Parents Cancel Kids' Christmas to Focus on Jesus' Birth, Doing Good for Others
A Christian couple has decided to cancel the traditional Christmas practice of exchanging gifts for their children in order to teach them the joy of giving to others.
Lisa Henderson, a popular family blogger, came under fire for her most recent post, "Why My Husband and I Cancelled Christmas!" which details how she and her husband John came to the decision to do so. Instead of focusing on the materialistic aspect of the Christmas season, Lisa and John wanted to show their children how to prioritize others' needs.
"John and I feel like we are fighting a very hard uphill battle with our kids when it comes to entitlement. Our kids have been acting so ungrateful lately. They expect so much even when their behavior is extremely disrespectful. We gave them good warning, either it was time for their behavior to change or there would be consequences. We patiently worked with them for several months and guess what, very little changed. One day after a particularly bad display of entitlement, John said, 'we should just cancel Christmas.' And, so that's what we did."
Lisa goes on to write that they will be using "money we would have spent on presents and put it towards service projects and giving gifts to others this season. We are trying to teach them the pleasure of giving rather than continuing to feed their childhood desire for more. We really want Christmas to be remembered for the right reasons and to keep the focus on the Savior and the feeling of giving. That is the true essence of Christmas. The feeling of kindness and giving are what give Christmas its magic. I am excited that our kids get to focus on that feeling. I am almost certain this will be the best Christmas they ever have!"
The children, Caleb, 11; Davis, 8; and Beckham, 5, all know what they did wrong and explained their behavior on "Good Morning America." But lest anyone think that they are suffering, they are not. Instead, they are busy finding their own ways to celebrate Christmas, including making little presents for one another and slipping them into each other's stockings.
"It's not about getting what you want," Caleb said on "GMA." "It's about giving."
