Christmas present musings- left from yesterday

Thank you all for your comments- public and private.

I had already decided that Little Bug was only going to get 3 presents from me - to follow the tradition that Jesus recieved 3 presents. Some friends (Hi to the A's out in Abbotsford!!) did this with their girls when I first met them and I loved the idea.

Well, C sent me some more information:
Giving your child only three gifts like Jesus received three gifts from the wisemen; gold, frankenscense (sp?) and myrrh. The gold is something fun or something that the child especially wants, the frankenscense is a family activity and the myrrh is something practical. Our gold gift this year is going to be the Fisher Price Little People A to Z Learning Zoo. S LOVES Little People. our frankenscence gift will be a zoo pass and I haven't figured out the myrrh gift yet. I hope I can continue to stick to this every year. It will sure simplify things.

So my thought is is to give him a bunch of stickers (fun, a pass to the Children's museum (family activity) and then we will take a family/friend vacation and go camping (the pratical) at a state park or a beach in Michigan. I kind of change the last one to be something that we can't do spur of the moment. I will give a donation in Little Bug's name to an organization that works in Guatemala and as he gets older, I would like to sponsor a child through Compassion International in Guatemala. I currently sponsor a young girl in the Dominican Republic- but she will age out of the program right as Little Bug starts school. I think that is when we will sponsor a little boy in Guatemala so that Little Bug has an understanding of what his life could have been like had his birth mother made a different choice.

I feel very at peace with this decision on gifts- I am trying to simplify my life, keeping on the things that I really need or that I have a emotional attachment to. It is so easy to fill our lives and houses with things- which, when all is said and done, are just clutter. What do Little Bug and I really need? Not much to be honest: a bed, some food, some clothes and each other. I heard a few years ago, that if you have more than one set of clothes, house to go home to each night and food for your next meal- you are richer than 90% of the world. Even when I think I have nothing- I still have more than 90% of the world. How did we come to this place where we need more and more to be happy? I don't need more, I want more- but I don't need it. I need more cuddles with my Little Bug, more time in the park playing, more momets of just being a family. We don't need more things to distract us from what is the most important things in this world: GOD, family and friends.

OK- stepping off my soap box this evening.

Love to you,
Momma Bug