Holiday Gifts

Holidays are meant to be a time to slow down and notice the world and people around us, and I truly dislike to what extent it becomes about shopping and busy malls and honking horns. I know all of those might carry a charm to them, but I truly believe that is only because they are so close in time to other, more meaningful experiences (like being with one’s family). This is why we try every year (albeit not terribly successfully) to not buy many things for the kids and instead to give them experiences or build or make something for them and each other. Last year we had built the kids a play stand. 

This year we had made over our guest room into a playroom- the guest room is right off the living room and so it is a perfect location for kids to play. Up until recently this was our homeschool room, but we had for a number of reasons found ourselves doing most of our homeschooling at the kitchen table and so it was high time to change that room around. The kids loved it- we had not done much- added some pillows, moved things around, got some little warm carpets. We had only added a little workshop for Reed (which was his one bought present- Siena got a comic book making kit) and I had sewn a little set of curtains for the playstand so that they could do a puppet theater. This coincided perfectly with the fact that our next door neighbor (who is a play therapist) bought the kids a bunch of amazing puppets! The kids loved it and so do we- I have been reading my new books on their soft bed and kids have been spending so much more time in that room, instead of demolishing the living room, so truly it was a present for us all- wink!