Good afternoon everyone! How has it been? I know, long time no chat, but I am back and hope to make it up to you!
Today I wanted to quickly touch on a subject that seems to come up more and more during the Holidays…gifts for the kids. This may be a touchy post, but these are my thoughts and feelings. I want to preface by saying in our extended family we have quite the differences in gifts and I have nothing agains people who handle the holidays differently than we do. I will not bash or look down on anyone who goes all out. To each their own 🙂
My little boy is 11 months old (where has the time gone?!) and this will be his first Christmas! It is such an exciting time for him and for our family and I have been loving it! Long before our sweet boy was born, my husband and I had a conversation about how we were going to handle gifts and what we each thought was appropriate for our child (and any future children we have). We settled on something that we think will work for us.
Our son will be getting 2-3 gifts this Christmas, one being a “large” gift and the others being smaller gifts that either go with the large gift or are something small that he likes (relating to a TV show or a separate toy he already likes). He doesn’t need much at all. He already has several toys that he enjoys (although realistically only plays with a couple regularly) and we are stocked up well on clothes for now. I never felt like my child wanted for anything and I don’t feel the need to shower a whole bunch of presents (and money) on a almost 1 year old who a) probably wouldn’t play with most of the toys and b) doesn’t need much in his day to day beyond what he already has. Besides, in all honesty, he is probably going to enjoy ripping the wrapping paper a lot more than any of the toys inside (at least for this year).
I don’t want to end up having a whole bunch of toys and things that will collect dust and remain untouched as the years go by. He grows and changes so much in his week to week, what intrigues and occupies him at this moment, may not be the same thing in a couple weeks. I know this is the nature of the beast of having a child, but I don’t think that Colton is in need of a lot at this time.
I will say, the one thing that I am doing and have wanted to do, is a Christmas Eve box. I have watched Sister-In-Laws do these boxes, and even though Colton might be too young, I love the tradition. He will get a movie and some special Christmas PJ’s in a box that he can open the night before Christmas. He can get in the pajamas and we can watch the movie together as a family. This is the “splurge” that I will do every year, because I love the “home-iness” feeling it gives.
This continues on for his birthday as well, which is shortly after Christmas. He will get a few things that work with where he is at and will grow into with his development (I am actually very excited to see what he makes of the Mega Blocks :)), but we will not be going all out or getting a whole lot more than that. Of course there will be cake, but we aren’t holding a party (a lot of logistics of it just not working out other than the desire to not have one). Colton likely won’t remember his first or second birthdays as it is, so we don’t feel the need to do much more outside of our little family.
All that aside, I have no problem with people who do splurge and go all out for Christmas and Birthdays. I love watching the kids get excited and open all of their presents! It is such an exciting time for both the kids and the parents. I think that in this case, each family must make their own decisions on how they want to handle the situations where gifts are involved.
How do you do gifts and is there a reason behind it? Do you get kids a whole bunch of gifts or stick with something simple? I’d love to hear from you!
We also decided to make a quick stop into the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum. They had a nice selection of old carriages and cars and a large history of how cars became to be what they are today. Growing up around older cars and motorcycles I did really enjoy seeing some of the cars and the history!
We headed over to Hershey’s Chocolate World, which I’ll be honest was cram packed with people. Strollers are not allowed inside the little shopping/museum/“factory” area and I completely agree with that policy. You could not move very far without either running into someone, or running into merchandise.
Our final stop in the Chocolate World was to make our very own candy bar! This was fun as you got to have your very own little bar made right in front of you in the same manner that all of the rest are produced. I chose to have a Dark Chocolate shell with rice crispies, chocolate cookies chunks, a Milk Chocolate covering (that was the only option for covering) and sprinkles on top. Sort of a mash up of Krakel and Cookies ’n Cream, with Dark Chocolate. I haven’t bit into it yet, but I’m sure it’s wonderful.
They also offered a chocolate tasting of different chocolates around the world. We enjoyed being able to sample bits of melted chocolate from around the world. My personal favorite was Venezuela, while my husbands was Tanzania. 
A Cuppa Cosy 