Gift giving

I have a lot of strengths. I know that.

Giving creative gifts is not one of them.

I would say I'm a pretty creative person. I can do creative things. But when it comes to giving gifts - the creative ones are few and far between.

When the 3 big kids were younger, we decided that Chanukah was not going to be about us giving gifts to them. Ari and I decided that Chanukah was going to be about family time. Each night the kids got to chose a family activity. We went to the clay room and painted bowls or plates, we had a game night, a movie night, an out-to-eat night, and other fun stuff. When they were younger and we lived in Boston, they got gifts anyhow from grandparents, aunt and uncles and family friends. So we never really had to give gifts.

And to be honest, it got me off the hook. What to get each child plus Ari is always just so hard.

And now here we are, many years later, the big kids are much bigger and not wanting or able to be home so much, and Ely is left behind without much of a Chanukah fun time. I don't want to replace her family time with presents, but am feeling a little desperate for her.

So now we are 4 days into Chanukah and I am trying whatever I can to be a good enough Mom and make it a meaningful and fun holiday for her.

The whole gift giving thing is just so stressful...