Nana Holds From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power
Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…
Thank you for joining me today for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s go talk about birthdays and the way we celebrate them.
In this season of Nana Holds, I have been given many do-overs, second chances to get some things right. See, looking back on my parenting of my son, there are some mistakes that glare back at me more than others, and their glare has proven powerfully helpful in parenting Bryden. For example, because of everything I didn’t have as a child, I was going to make sure that my son did have, and then some! Birthdays and holidays were excuses to spoil him with presents in an effort to fulfill all of his wants, not just his needs.
Big mistake, really big! But oh, how thankful am I for His redemption and I so love His sovereignty that works all things out for good and His glory. This is kind of a random off-the-subject thought, but do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if only you knew then what you know now? At least He uses it to weave beauty in the tapestry of our testimony!
So, getting back to this, we had decided even after realizing that the event was on his birthday, that we didn’t want to throw a jinormous party that feeds a sense of entitlement. Now hear me out and don’t go getting all upset on me.
We actually had one of those for him on his 2nd birthday and while it
was super fun getting together with friends and family – which is a
major part of it all – a two-year-old tends to get a bit overwhelmed and
over-stimulated as he/she is opening package after package after
package. Are the presents a sign of love?When we have these gigantic parties that include presents for our kids, it does tend to feed a sense of entitlement. I know that now. I finally figured that out, all these years later when my son has affirmed this. It was several Christmases ago when I began to chillax about crazy-gift-buying escapades and showering everyone with at least a dozen boxes. I kept it simple and thoughtful and afterwards, he came up and hugged me and said it was the best Christmas he had ever had!
While I realize that these types of parties are generational traditions, I do wonder what it would look like if we celebrated with words of affirmation, fellowship and just two or three gifts. Can’t we celebrate a child without feeding the expectation of a present?
That’s just some food for thought and I’d love to hear your thoughts, too. Join me tomorrow for the sweet and simple celebration we had for Bryden’s 3rd birthday.
In His grace,
Evinda
Nana Holds!
No comments:
Post a Comment