I am sure all of you can relate but I was pretty stressed out about Christmas this year. The money situation really put a damper on my plans this year and I was really upset. I had all these great ideas about things I could do to surprise my wife and kids with the coolest gifts ever but those plans were quickly thrown out.
My wife and I both agreed to not exchange gifts this year so we could make sure the kids had a great Christmas morning. My daughter has spent the second half of the year talking about an American Girl doll and how awesome it would be to have one. She was not annoying about it but it was funny how I would constantly find AG catalogs all over the house. We knew we wanted to get that for her.
We were going to get George gift cards to clothing stores. He is 13 now and we felt it would be better for him to pick out his own clothes now but with us still retaining our “Veto” power if something was not appropriate. I decided to ask him what he wanted just to see if we were on the right track. The very first thing he mentioned was his bedroom. You see, when he was 8 we painted his room with a “Space” theme. Glow in the dark planets on the ceiling and cartoonish looking planets painted in various spots in the room. A total kids room and now that he is a teen he wants to change it up.
I felt so bad that we never thought about doing this sooner but I was proud if him to ask for such a great gift. I had planned to get a bunch of stuff for him and for Gillian but money was not going to allow any of it. I felt terrible. I actually pulled George aside and told him that Christmas was going to suck this year and that I was sorry about that. He told me not to worry that it was not a big deal and left it at that.
Come Christmas morning as we watched our kids open their gifts, they surprised me with a couple of things. First Gillian got me a little tool set I could keep in my car that said “Dad” on it and George found this stuffed bunny and gave it to me as a joke. I will have to explain that one later but it was quite funny.
The kids had saved up some cash and got their mom “Hairspray” which we watched last night. And Gillian made her a coupon holder for her purse that was very cute.
Gillian loved her American Girl doll and although we could not do much more then that she was overjoyed. In fact, I do not believe that doll has left her side since.
George was so excited to have the ability to choose what his room is going to look like. He was so thankful and excited about it. It was great to see those smiles.
After all the wrapping paper had settled we were just about to start getting ready to go to Christmas Breakfast with my sisters when George said, “You see Dad. I don’t know why you think Christmas is going to suck. That was awesome! I would have been happy with one thing and still you guys make is the best ever. I know we have financial problems but you guys always make it great!”
And that was the best present we received for Christmas. Grateful children are a precious and rare gift.
Sunday, December 30, 2007 at 3:14PM 
We talked about Diabetes, our blogging friends, our favorite blogs to read, our pumps, and so much more. We chatted about all sorts of stuff and like I said, I laughed the whole night through.
