Why I'm Going to Spoil My Children This Christmas

There are outstanding articles on Associated Content and the rest of the Internet on the topic of Christmas budgets. Do You Think You Could Handle a Buy Nothing Christmas? and Celebrating Christmas on a Budget are both two well written examples for families trying to cut down this Christmas. There's a wealth of information out there on how a family can have a beautiful, meaningful Christmas together without breaking the bank. In fact, not overdoing Christmas has become such a popular topic that I've never come out and admitted this one simple fact. I cannot wait to spoil my two children this Christmas. I shouldn't have to be ashamed about it, either!

There are tons of reasons why we are planning on a fairly extravagant Christmas in our home this year. The first is that my children are at an age now where they can finally get into the unwrapping and playing with toys. No longer babies, my girls can open a game of Memory and say, "Let's play it now, Mommy! Can we play it now?" My children can open presents for the entire morning now, because I fully expect for our routine to be: open, then play, open, then play, and open, then play some more. I can't wait to spend a whole morning under the tree with wrapping paper piled high around us. I want to buy them presents and see the looks on their faces when they walk groggy eyed into our living room on Christmas morning.

We also live far away from our extended family, and this will be the first year that we haven't made the rounds to visit grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts and uncles. Our day is our own. Because of that, I want to overdo it a little bit. Of course, I am not naive. I realize that presents don't make up for our missing family. But I think that they will make the day a little more fun for all of us, including myself.