This past weekend we decorated gingerbread houses which is one of our family’s favorite holiday traditions. We also piled on the couch and watched Christmas Vacation one of our favorite holiday movies.
And then we started a new tradition. We took the boys out shopping. I decided that we spend way too much time asking them what they want and what’s on their list and not close to enough time asking them about what they want to give.
We provided them with a modest budget to buy gifts for each other and pick something out for their wonderful parents. We plopped them in a semi-controlled environment (Barnes & Noble) and let them shop until they needed a Shake Shack pit stop. Let’s just say the choices were….interesting.
And that might have been the hardest part of the weekend. Realizing that as parents, our influence is already beginning to wane. They aren’t interested in our ideas or opinions, because they have their own ideas and opinions.
I couldn’t influence what gifts they picked.
I couldn’t even influence the decorating of their gingerbread houses.
Direct quote: “That’s a good idea Mom. But, no.”
I didn’t think I would become irrelevant so quickly.
But that’s Christmas for you. Just when you think you have it figured out, you get blindsided.
Here’s a few of my favorite holiday posts to help you bounce back if you’re also experiencing a bit of holiday induced irrelevance.
Something to make you laugh: How It Went Down At the Cookie Swap (A revised version of this post is to be included in the anthology, Mom for the Holidays in 2015.)
Something to make you think: Holiday Giving Guide
Of course, you aren’t really irrelevant. They are just developing their own thoughts and opinions which is what you’ve been working on for all their lives. But, it is surprising at first, right?