Christmas With Our Toddler

Leif's toddlerdom has made his second Christmas entertaining, to say the least. Last year, he couldn't do much. This year, he enjoyed unwrapping gifts, even if he did take 3 minutes per gift, and he had moved on to other activities before all his gifts were unwrapped. He loved seeing what was inside each box or bag. Unfortunately, he's developed a theory that every box with something inside is a gift to be unwrapped. I had bought him some toothpaste at the grocery store one day recently, and he grabbed it out of the bag and shoved it in my face, complete with gasps of excitement. When I took the toothpaste out of the box, he gasped while covering his mouth. It was cute, but what have we created?! This too shall pass, right? Did I mention that he woke up on December 26th, looking for gifts under the Christmas tree? Sorry, bud. Christmas only comes once a year.

With that said, I wanted to share some Christmas memories that these first-time parents championed... and by that, I mean we want to continue these with our children in the future.

+ Making sure Leif spent ample time with both sets of grandparents, and all the aunts and uncles and cousins.
+ Letting Leif experience Christmas morning/day at his own home. In the midst of the chaos of Christmas, this is the one special day we can spend together, just the three of us.
+ Giving Leif practical gifts from Santa, with a couple of fun toys. He's a toddler who's excited about any gift he opens, so as parents, we're taking full advantage of that! He received plenty of sticker books, coloring books, a couple of cloth diaper covers, forks and spoons, rain boots, some sensory balls, and a big stuffed frog.
+ Limiting the volume of gifts he received. Although our funds were in short supply this year, we also didn't want to set a standard that's difficult to meet each year thereafter.