Christmas spirit

**Wendy Mack** · 12-15-2008, 08:48 PM

I lost mine too .. I go to find things for the kids and i come home with little or nothing.. cause its all too much money ... too ughhh its not what christmas is about .. I mean i want to get my kids things they want .. but I can't afford a laptop and its all my 16 year old daughter wants.... I Feel bad cause i want to get her what she wants... but i don't have 600 dollars to spend on just her. She has had a really bad few months... and i want to make this special for her... I keep hoping my brother will call saying he has a good 2nd hand one .. that I can buy for what I can afford... but so far nothing. And I only have one neice bought for .. and in a few days is my first christmas with some family ... its sooo crazy this year.. grandpa last week went into the nursing home .. grandma is having a hard time with .. he has alzhemiers. And then Kayla (16 year old) having health problems.. and a pig attack. Its just I want to cry .. stay home and just spend time with my kids and husband and phfffff to everyone else.. but that isn't what christmas is about!!! Ughhhh I haven't even done my christmas cards yet... geeezzzzzzz!

**kittykatstrong** · 12-16-2008, 02:36 AM

The spirit has not found me either. I think because I have been at work and he doesn't know where that is. It also might be because everything is up in air right now and it is hard to put one more thing on my plate.

**Patty A** · 12-16-2008, 03:06 AM

IMHO some kids only learn the hard way. And as awful as it sounds sometimes its good for them to understand that they can't always be #1, not only that but they have to learn that disappointments are a fact of life when you live in a dream world. As hard as it is sometimes the only way to show them how difficult things really are is to set them down to the table and show them the money! Let them see what you are dealing with in dollars and cents and ask if they see how hard it has been to keep food in their bellies......I would also think it might be time to let little "Missy" find out how hard it is to earn a dollar, let her work for what she gets. They always have a better understanding of how hard it is to have an EXTRA dollar when they start earning their own.

Look in your heart, the Christmas spirit is there. Sometimes we just have to look hard to find it. We often find our Christmas spirit in the simplest ways. Count your blessing and its much easier to find. We are so lucky to have a roof over our head, full bellies, and warmth. That really is what the spirit of Christmas is all about, not what you get, its what you give and its not now nor ever been for sale......its the free stuff that counts, a smile, a shoulder to lean on, having good health, good friends and close family. It doesn't matter what the gift count is, happiness is found in things that money can't buy!

**Dutchie** · 12-16-2008, 06:54 AM

It happens to me too sometimes that I cannot find the Christmas spirit- even now - but then I have to think what happened to us 2 years ago and then I thank God that everything has worked out.

Our 5 kids are all members of a mixed field hockey club and have been for YEARS. They know all the kids there and everyone knows one another. A bit like a HUGE exteneded family. Because I am the type that loves having kids around and so many of the parents work, a lot of times I had whole teams here for dinner/'chilling' etc. This is how we got to know Luc (short for Lucia). Luc is a girl (pronounced Luke) and has been friends with all my kids for years, played in the same team as my daughter and was one of the many kids who came here all the time. In August 2006 she came to us and asked if she could stay with us for a while since her mother had gone away with another man and didn't want to have anything to do with Luc's father and the 2 kids. Of course we said yes, not a problem. The reason why she didn't stay with her father is that he had a mental breakdown and was taken into a clinic for a time to recover. He stayed there for a couple of weeks.
At the beginning of Dec. 2006, Luc and our youngest son became boyfriend/girlfriend which was fine by us and a few days later her father called us up and asked if he could rely on us if he should feel the need to get away for a couple of days since he was still having trouble accepting the breakup with his wife and the fact she had totally distanced herself from them all.
Of course once again we said yes.
On Christmas Eve 2006 we heard that Luc's father had gone out of the door and hadn't come back. At first I wasn't alarmed, but then we heard the news on Christmas morning. He had thrown himself in front of a train.
Luc came to us on Christmas morning and sobbed like a baby in my arms (she was then 17).
Because of the relationship that was blossoming (and still is) with our youngest son, she decided not to live with us permanently but moved in with the parents of her dearest girlfriend (they live around the corner).
This young girl has had to face things that no young girl should have to face but she did it, with her shoulders straight and her head high, sometimes with tears in her eyes but always with determination.
She finished high school with honors and was accepted into a prestigious medical school nearby.
Last year on the first anniversary of her father's death, she came with us to church on Christmas Eve, went to her father's grave on Christmas Day and came home to celebrate Christmas with us - yes, celebrate because each day - as she says - she counts her blessings - that she has so many people who love her.
The second anniversary of her father's death is drawing near and if I ever think that the Christmas spirit is lacking in me, I think of her and how well she has coped and what an example she is for us as a family.