Christmas shopping

Ever since Nathan was 3 I have taken him to the dollar store and let him choose a present for each person in his family. He writes out a list of names and crosses them off one by one in the store. He gets so excited and explains to me why each gift is perfect for each person. We spend the afternoon together shopping and then we always get a hot chocolate after. It's become one of my favorite Christmas traditions. 

This year was Ryan's first time getting to do it. It took a few minutes for him to understand these were presents he was going to give away, not keep for himself and at first he was less than thrilled about the idea. But once he finally understood, he also got really excited to choose presents. 

Christmas can be a bit overwhelming with so much emphasis placed on presents. Between aunts and uncles and grandparents and Santa, my kids get way more than they need. It makes me proud to see them embrace the giving spirit and want to choose gifts to give to others. 

Today after school we put a Christmas movie on and wrapped each present. It took us a long time but they were so proud of themselves when they were done. They are very excited to hand them out to everyone and hopefully they can actually make it to Christmas morning without spilling the beans!