Have you ever said to yourself or your loved ones something like, “next year Christmas is going to be better because we will have more money” or “if only we had more money we could have a good Christmas”? Don’t make Christmas about money! Christmas can be a special, almost magical time of the year and there is so much that we can do to make Christmas a happy time for ourselves as well as for others.

There’s no doubt that buying gifts costs money, and most of us want to give nice presents to our friends and loved ones. There’s nothing wrong with buying gifts, but we should think more about love and friendships and spending real quality time together than we do about the presents. Happy times spent together will create many fond memories that will stay with us and warm our hearts long after the presents have been forgotten.

Many of us borrow money, use our credit cards, or even let a few bill go over due just so we can buy as many presents as we can. Because of the way most children are raised and because of the far reaching influence of the advertisers and retailers a lot of children today judge a holiday like Christmas by the number of gifts they received. When a child is very young you can get by with 25 cheap gifts from the Dollar Store. Wow! Now that is a lot of gifts to get from one person! But what will the child do with all those toys? Those that are not quickly forgotten will probably be broken. And the child will be learning that Christmas means lots of presents to open.

By the time the next Christmas season rolls around last years gifts are all but forgotten and its time for another big pile. Every year the child expects to see a lot of presents under that tree, that’s what you have been teaching it from the beginning. Soon cheap presents aren’t acceptable any more and children are often disappointed and even made fun of by their peers for not getting everything they wanted or not getting the proper brand names. It’s a vicious circle that all starts by teaching our children that the presents are the reason for holidays and celebrations.

So what is the reason for the season? For some it is about remembering the birth of Christ and honoring his birth, though in reality Christmas truly has little or nothing to do with Christianity. But that doesn’t matter. Whether people feel that Christmas is about Christ, Santa Claus, both, or neither; most will agree that it is a time of love and celebration of being together. A lot of people have friends and loved ones they rarely get to see except for on special occasions like Christmas when they make a special effort to gather together. Often people travel many miles to go “home” for Christmas.

Before the next Christmas season rolls around take a look at your habits and ask yourself these questions:

* Am I making Christmas about money and teaching my children the same?
* What is really important for me and my family and/or friends?
* Do I want my children to grow up valuing the gifts or happy times together?

Buy as many presents as you would like to, but do not spend more than you can afford to in some attempt to “buy” happiness or a “good Christmas”. Having money can help, but it cannot buy the happiness and love that family and friends can give you.

Written by David Slone, Copyright 2009 ChristmasChimney.com all rights reserved and may not be republished in any form.