Christmas Morning

The days leading up to Christmas can often be quite crazy. You are trying to find your last minute gifts, make sure all of the gifts you already have are wrapped, planning get togethers and meals, all while taking care of your kids. While it does not have to be crazy, many people enjoy the gift giving and receiving, and it can mean that you feel overwhelmed. Christmas day is the perfect reprieve after the craziness.

Christmas is an exciting time for kids - they’re doing some fun and unique things at school, their friends are all excited for presents, and your child is excited as well. A lot of times they’ll be overly excited. You may get tired of them counting down the days every 15 minutes, or telling you about everything they want (and you realize they may not get). It’s exciting leading up, but can be exhausting as well.

As such, when the big day finally arrives, it’s one of the best days. All of your plans and preparations are finally coming together. Your child likely didn’t go to bed until late the night before, and is likely going to be up early. You’re excited to see the smile on your child’s face. Perhaps there’s a gift you’re excited for as well, but there doesn’t have to be. It’s an enjoyable time just to be with your family.

As an adult, it’s still nice to receive gifts, but it’s even more exciting and rewarding to see your child receive a gift and be happy about it. It’s also rewarding receiving a gift from your child - not so much because of the gift itself but rather that your child is being thoughtful. Just the fact that they’ve gone through the work of figuring out something to get you and have given it to you can be far more rewarding than anything else.

Of course, Christmas morning itself can be a bit crazy. Your child is up early, you’re up earlier than you want, and they want to open presents. They’re probably going to eat a bunch of candy, and simply be so amped up for the day to finally be here. While it’s fun and exciting, it can also be exhausting. Enjoy the time as much as you can. It’s only once a year that you have a day and morning like this.

The truly best time of the day is after the presents are open, everyone is playing with the items that they’ve received and trying to figure out how they work. The initial excitement has passed, but everyone is still engaged. It’s at this time that I like to simply sit down and relax. You can sit and watch others enjoy their gifts, and you can check out any gifts you received. However, it’s the calm that has finally arrived.

Sit and reflect on the things that you enjoyed about the season. Think about how you might do things differently next year. Don’t overthink it, and don’t overdo it though. You’re trying to relax and enjoy a few minutes to yourself. Just watching everyone playing and enjoying the morning is the most rewarding part of Christmas morning.

Christmas time is crazy. The days leading up to it can be stressful. Take some time on Christmas to relax and enjoy to yourself.