Spreading Out The Toy Joy

Okay, peeps.

It’s New Year’s Eve, here, so I’m getting the last o’ the holiday posts completed before we turn over a new leaf and power on into JANUARY. Woohoo!!

Admittedly, this little post might not seem all that important, but it feels significant to me. Because it basically reinforces my belief that it’s so beneficial to spread out some of the holiday toy joy for my kiddos, when possible. A feat we managed to accomplish this year. :)

Basically, the gist is this: my babies are super blessed.

Santa brings them three gifts (just like the wise men brought Jesus).

Mama and Daddy usually buy them a small something.

And...aunts (and great aunts!) uncles, godparents, grandparents—times three—love and adore them, and all shower them with wonderful gifts, as well.

My kiddos are well and truly gifted to the max during the holidays. And each and every gift giver spends such time and care to come up with items my kiddos will love and enjoy. And I always want to do my best to allow each well-intentioned and generous gift to have its time to shine and not get lost in the holiday shuffle. 

‘Cause let’s be real. Most of us can recognize the unwrapping mania that takes hold on Christmas Day, and it’s overstimulation to the max, amiright???

So.

Basically.

About a week or so before Christmas, the hubby and I mapped out a plan to allow the kiddos to open a few, token gifts, in a spread-out time frame, for maximum enjoyment and appreciation. And it was so much fun.

First, we went with great aunt gifts, and the kiddos spent that absolute best and most-occupied Saturday, putting together Lego sets that kept them sooooo entertained. :)

It was their first chance to open anything this holiday season, so it was a big deal and a really festive, special treat. 

And such concentration... ;)







It made my heart so happy to see them focus on these specific gifts with undivided attention, that the next weekend—on the first Saturday of the holiday break, to really kick things off in style—we let them open grandparent gifts.

But we did it in a fun way, by letting Leaf the Elf leave a note about how he overheard Mama and Daddy saying we would let them open a present come morning. So Leaf had kindly selected one present for each kiddos, and positioned the grandparent’s stocking stuffers by the fireplace. Do you see Leaf in the pic below, perched on the hearth in his Christmas tree outfit?? :)



It was such a fun and jolly morning, with the kiddos tearing into their stocking and opening up Pictionary Air (for Little Man), and Barbies for the girlies. :)









They played and played and played all day long, together. And, again, it felt like such a wise decision to let a single gift take the limelight for a day.





And, because grandparents are allowed to spoil a bit, the kiddos still had other items to open from them (that we saved for Christmas Eve). Again—a fantastic spreading of the fun and joy.











Sweet story: Chicklet is holding her Pixie Flyer gift below (its small and adorable), and she actually received two as her gift. But the moment she opened them, she said, “oh, sissy, look, there’s one for you!” And proceeded to give one generously away, even though we told her she didn’t have to. Gotta love that giving heart. :)



So basically, to sum things up: obviously, it would be amazing if all gifts were opened on Christmas Day, in front of the person that so generously purchased them for my kiddos.

But that’s just not possible.

And often results in some gifts getting lost in the shuffle.

So we’ll continue to take this spread the toy joy approach when we can, and really maximize the generosity of all the loved ones who adore and spoil my babies. :)

Okay, peeps. Powering on with another post for the night before we call it a day—er, year. ;)

Over and out.