Christmas

This year has been a different sort of Christmas for us.

Because the kids and I went to the US and had an early Christmas with my mom, we did not choose to do a big Christmas celebration now. We did not decorate our home and Santa brought one gift for each kid. I told Sara that I sent my own letter to Santa telling him that Sakib and I have all that we need and the gifts we want cannot be wrapped up under a tree. The gifts we want are time together with our beautiful family, wellness, and love. When I told Sara that she should not expect a haul she was disappointed but I reminded her of all of the gifts we have received this year, including our wonderful trip to Minnesota and explained all the fun family things we will do today, her disappointment didn’t last very long. This morning Sara woke up she found her single present and had just as much joy in her face as she did when she had many presents.

 We also did not exchange gifts with each other. Instead, we are focusing on the more important aspects of Christmas. The gifts that cannot be wrapped.  I hope to continue Christmas in this way as my children grow. Next year, Sara, Sam and I can make some decorations and a tree (no evergreens here), they’ll get their gift from Santa and one from us, and maybe I’ll have a lazy elf on a shelf, just to spice things up. I hope that when Sara and Sam are adults they’ll be able to remember back to all our family Christmas celebrations and remember love and togetherness instead of the gifts they did (or did not) get.

I received a wonderful gift today. I went to my first church service in Dhaka. It was held outside on the lawn of the American club. It was a beautiful day and the sun felt so good on my face as I listened to the pastor speak about giving the gift of ourselves to God. Sara decided to stay home, which was a bummer because there was a beautiful park where she could have played. I think Sam enjoyed himself because he behaved himself so well. After the mass, I met the pastor and his wife, both very kind, sincere people, and I met many other very nice people too. They have mass there every Friday morning with a nursery and a separate mass for kids Sara’s age. I am very excited for next Friday and I very much hope many Fridays to come.

Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you all have a great Holiday.