Something to wear, something to read, something to play with, something you need...

We love music in this house, just loooove it, but with the exception of the usual public school music classes ( I played the cello and the flute, David played the tuba)  neither my husband or I have much in the way of what you would call 'talent'.  Mind you, have you heard some of the stuff that passes for music out there?  I could do better.  But where we excel in this house is with rhymes!  I have a rhyme for everything and Samuel and I hum our way through the day quite happily. 

Something to wear, something to read, something to play with, something you need.

That's our Christmas present rhyme.  Too many presents just makes the day stressful and unhappy.  The build up of frantic anticipation to open them, the wasteful tearing of wrapping paper and plastic ribbons, the crying when the morning is done as though nothing, nothing at all, can fill the void until next Christmas, when you'll get more stuff!  No, that's not for us.  We like to draw out our enjoyment so that we can savour the season, so we will be celebrating the season of Advent this year by lighting an advent wreath, spending a special day decorating and a special day baking.  We'll make our own wrapping paper, Samuel and I, by mixing flour and water with a little food colouring, stripping off socks and walking our colourful toes through the 'paint' and onto brown paper.  On December 6th we'll celebrate Saint Nicholas's birthday with a little toy to unwrap and possibly some special chocolate treat for the grown-ups.  We go to see the Nativity story performed live, with real animals, the week of Christmas, and after we sing carols we pet the sheep.  Then on Christmas Day Daddy makes his very special once-a-year incredibly bad for you breakfast casserole and we light the tree and we'll open our gifts before church.  Samuel will get four well-thought-out gifts from us, not piles of presents, and a stocking of course, in addition to whatever family decides to give him.  No one works on Christmas morning, there are no chores, we'll have a candlelit supper and go to bed early.  The next few days will be spent singing and calling to thank well-wishes and gift-givers.  We'll talk about the wise men coming to the Christ child and we might have a creche this year to move three little figures closer and closer to.  On January 6th we'll have Epiphany, and there will be another special little present waiting to open at breakfast, and Mama will make an Ephipany cake for dessert that night.  Perhaps we'll go for a walk and look at the Christmas lights together.  Epiphany ends our season of Christmas and the tree will come down and we'll prepare for the next season.  A long, drawn-out enjoyment of our days.