Our girls start planning for Christmas as soon as the Halloween costumes come off October 31^st. Their little brother isn’t quite old enough yet to catch the holiday hysteria, but I’m sure he’ll be initiated into their club soon enough. And with all the glitter and lights making their way into our stores, parks, and neighborhoods, I find myself falling prey to those same temptations we face every year…the urge to go bigger, brighter, and more expensive.

Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s especially easy to catch the shopping bug when small children are part of your household. Because children still believe in the magic of Christmas, looking for reindeer and staying up late on December 24^th, and the joy they feel during the holidays in just plain addictive. And as adults, we remember those feelings, and we want to make the holidays so special and sacred to our children, so they’ll remember them with that same nostalgia when they’re grown. But because we’re adults, we’ve started mistaking magic as new toys, stockings, candy, and video games. Joy has been whittled down to a pile of presents under the tree…but that’s not what I remember most about my childhood holidays. I remember my family getting together, and the barely contained chaos of the “kid table”. I remember staying up until way past midnight with my brother, determined to catch Santa in the act. I remember driving through our neighborhood and admiring the lights and decorations. I remember making Christmas cookies. Of course, I remember the excitement of Christmas morning and finally unwrapping all those presents, but it’s just a part of the experience, and not even the biggest one.

So I’ve challenged myself this year to keep a little bit of the wonder in the holiday for my family. We’ll drink hot cocoa while decorating the tree, sing Christmas carols, and of course, look forward to opening presents in the morning. Thanks to our Christmas Club account at Afena Federal Credit Union, budgeting for the holidays has been stress-free, so while my kids are all about Christmas, I can get back to planning for Thanksgiving and enjoying November. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.