Mothering at Christmas

Continuing the Mothering series...

I remember when I was a child, hearing grown ups say strange things like " well, that year flew past" and thinking that comment was just silly. Well, I guess I'm officially a grown up now, because that year did indeed fly past and we've just had Christmas again.

Mothering at this time of year is a highly skilled, multi tasking role (as it is the whole year round really). You need to have some organisation skills, not my strongest point but even I need to get this one down. You need to know your best window of opportunity to go into town. You need to go when you've got the least amount of kids, leaving enough time for the school run and fitting in a baby feed. You need to make the 'bus with a buggy' decision or face the car park queue. You need to know your children well enough to know what presents to buy within the budget you've set. You need to explain to the husband why stocking presents are completely different to main presents. You then need to make the time to hide the presents, find the presents, wrap the presents and label the presents. 

You also have the sheer joy of seeing the kids' Christmas plays, what a delight! Time you'll never get back. You and the husband have to try to only laugh at the right times, and not all the way through it. You have to buy enough food and decide whether you're going to force the kids to try sprouts this year. And Mothering at Christmas seems to involve buying multiple bottles of Calpol.


You have to remind the kids and yourself what Christmas is actually about; an all powerful God, humbling Himself to baby status in order to rescue the world from their sin. You have to remind them that we give gifts, because God gave Jesus to us. And you have to train the kids to be grateful with the gifts they receive, which my boys did well to their credit. It's amusing over the Christmas season when any new adult walks in the door, they get asked the "have you got us a present" question, with me quickly behind them telling them not to be so cheeky. But their expectation of a gift got me thinking about how we are to be with our Heavenly Father. He has multiple gifts for us, and He wants us to cheekily ask Him what He's got for us. He wants us to be expectant every time we talk to Him that He has something for us. The boys' faces were a delight when they opened Lego, bugs in slime, and Star Wars gifts. God knows exactly what we need and what we want, and it delights Him to give to us. So in 2013, we are to cheekily ask God for new gifts and to be expectant that He wants to give them to us. 
What presents will you ask for and unwrap, at the beginning of this new year?

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" 
Matthew 7v11