As a parent you work so hard to make sure that Christmas is delightful. You work with your kids to write their list to Santa and you want them to feel special when they wake up Christmas morning.  I also feel you when your child opens up their gift, looks at them and puts it to the side and hardly takes a second glance. Opens the next gift and even wrinkles their nose.  I hear you when they say “is that it??” after a 30 second frenzy of unwrapping. It can sometime feel defeating, all the time spent going to the store and making everything just so.  But I want you to hear something that I learned that hard way, sometimes it is not your child being mean spirited or ungrateful. Sometimes it is just that gifts are not as important as that snuggle on the couch reading a book or hike you going on after lunch on Christmas day. Sometimes their love language is not recieving gifts. 

​​SLXLM

I truly believe in love languages. As Gary Chapman wrote in his books (and I highly recommend them), we all receive or feel we are loved in different ways.   Those different ways can be  gifts, but also can be quality time, acts of services, words of affirmation and physical touch.  
When you are facing Christmas with your kids this week, think about each of your children and family members and remember that they will feel loved in different ways. Here are some suggestions to make it more special for each child:
Physical Touch:-have them come and sit with you to open their present, have them sit on your lap or put your arm around them. 
Quality Time:-give them a gift of an adventure together, promise to read the book they got with them after the presents are opened. 
Words of affirmation:-tell them why you got the gift for them, add a card to the gift that tells them an attribute that they should be proud of you. An example ‘you work are so creative and talented, we hope this gift inspire you to create wonderful artwork’
Acts of Service:-Make your child some hot chocolate and add special toppings before you open the gifts.  Offer to do one of their chores for the day as gift.
Your child is still appreciative of the presents they get but if their love language is not gifts, you may not get that Hallmark movie feeling when they open their presents !!  You know what I am talking about..we have all seen at least one. 
Don’t let this season take the best of you. Make sure to sit for a moment and look around you and just be grateful for the small moments, like the flicker of candle, the sounds of bell ringing, that crunch of the snow under your feet, the way the light glistens off the ornaments. That is what can make this time of year special.