Gifting Thoughts

The girls doing some convincing.

Yesterday morning I walked in to see the girls dressed in silks an playing happily with the make-do furniture. There was no mention of  needing anything other than what they had. No requests for new dolls or frustration over a "lack" of furniture. Just happy whole hearted enjoyment ofthe little world they were creating. A world where trees grow in the living room and doll's dollhouses magically transform into fireplaces when the farmer gets cold.

Spectacular Fireplace, because dollies need focal points too.

Part of me is delighted to have a new gift idea. It's becoming more and more difficult to sift through the wants, needs, and the magical.  With each possible purchase I weigh and measure all the possiblities. 

Is it a good toy? Will they play with it? Is it appropiate to what I'm trying to create? How was it made? Can I afford it? Is it worth sacrificing other things for? Will it be the only thing the child gets? Is a single theme going to feel like enough?

I have a lot of problems worrying over the "will it feel like enough" issue. I grew up with presents overflowing the whole living room and fierce competition between my sister and I. We would count out all that we got and be very upset if it wasn't even. My mother loves to buy things for the children. Which is wonderful, and they love it. But it's hard too. They wind up with so much! We've been working on scaling back over the years. Really putting the focus on handmade and quality over quantitiy. I know that we've done better but it's still hard for me to look at just a few packages under the tree and feel satisfied.

But I want to give my children the Joy of the Season. Not a lot of packages. I don't want them to stress over who has what. I want them to truly feel blessed that someone thought enough about them and tried to decipher what would best make them smile. They already know how important gifting handmade is to me, and they've witnessed how much goes into a handmade item. So they're capable of enjoying the Christmas I've designed. I just know it's hard for them sometimes to look at everything their cousins come over with and not feel like they got a raw deal. There is a lot of jealousy between them. The cousins wish they were getting all the handmade homespun Christmas that I do, and my children wish they were getting the Barbies and IPods.

I know it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side. I just wish I could find a way to help them feel good about the life I'm trying to create.

Lavender and Orange oil Play Dough

This is one handmade thing that they all love. We had alot of fun yesterday mixing up a new batch of playdough. They love the making, the playing, and the smell is amazing. Tyler always chooses purple, and Auriana always chooses blue. They also had fun mixing the two together. Days of fun for pennies.

Does it get any better than that?