Our Family Tradition- 3 Wise Men,Jesus & Santa

My daughter started a wonderful

tradition with her children.

I thought I would share it

with some of you that

might want to adopt

the idea while

your kids are

still small.

There is always the urge

for SANTA to

overspend at Christmas,

isn't there?

When is enough enough?

How many presents should

each child get?

Well, at my daughter's house,

Santa brings each child

THREE GIFTS....

just like

JESUS

got three gifts from the wise men.

On Christmas morning the girls

come down the stairs.

The are wearing their brand new
(hopefully matching)

CHRISTMAS pjs that

Papa and Nana deliver

on Christmas Eve.

It is the one  small gift
 they open that night.

As they settle down,

Mama reaches for her

special

CHRISTMAS MORNING BOOK.
It is the story of the nativity

and she reads it to them.

When she gets

to the part where the

THREE WISE MEN

bring their gifts to

JESUS

the girls all scramble over

to the tree and find the

three gifts that

SANTA has left

for each one of them.

It will always be something

they want...and could be

as simple as
 a coloring book with crayons
or a bigger gift like
a snowboard.

Whatever it is~

Each child feels as special

as can be that SANTA

has gifted them with

something special

just like
JESUS
got three gifts from the

THREE WISE MEN

Once they find their presents

they snuggle back up to Mama

who finishes the story

of Bethlehem.

And then they open their

Santa gifts.

Now, they also get a

Mom and Dad gift and

Nana and Papa gifts

and Auntie and Uncle gifts,

so there is no lack of presents-

but it does put a limit on
dear old Dad

SANTA.

We have come to love

this special tradition

and how it kind of ties

everything together

for our family.

And THIS YEAR
there will be two
more special little
ones that will listen to
their Auntie TPot
read the Christmas story.
And at least ONE of these
monkeys will be
scrambling to find his
three gifts too!

I. JUST. CAN'T. WAIT!