Give the Gift of Time

With the holiday season upon us, it’s no better time than to give the gift of quality time to those we love. Whether we are off work for Christmas or we are stay at home moms that spend our every waking minute with our families, this is a great time to refocus our attention to our spouses and children. Giving the gift of time is what makes the memories our children will remember and tell their children 50 years from now.

As a child my parents went all out for Christmas. We had tons of presents and lots of stocking stuffers each year. And while I do have wonderful memories of opening gifts, I can hardly remember even the most important of presents from my childhood. I do, however, remember reading the Christmas story together each year and discussing what it meant to us, watching movies together as a family on Christmas Day, and the times we were forced to talk to each other more than normal because we were trapped inside our house because of snow.

The times baking and cooking together in the kitchen, whether during the holidays or not, are the memories that I cherish and the laughs I can share with my parents, my brother, and can re-tell to my children. And though my mother hated Monopoly, I can reminisce on how every year on New Year’s Day we would play that game all day long so that no one would ask to play it any other time.

give the gift of time

Taking long vacations trapped in the car with one another before technology was the solution to having a childhood, we would play travel bingo and accuse each other of “who farted”. And though these memories aren’t as glamorous and flashy as the hottest and newest toy, they are what has stood the test of time.

And I know you probably don’t care about my own memories, or maybe some of them have sparked ones of your own. But in the end, it’s the sentiment and the emotion that make us think. Are we treasuring our family for what they really mean to us? I know that I am guilty of spending my time trying to clean the house or blog when sometimes the only thing my daughter needs is the gift of time. So in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, New Year’s Day, and everything in between, I am reminding myself to not get lost in the consumerism and commercialization of the holidays. I am trying to not  forget to invest time rather than money into my family.

What activities do you have planned to invest in your family? How do you give the gift of time?

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Kara Carrero
Kara is married and has one daughter and plans to have a large family. She loves being a eco-conscious mom and is a huge advocate of the organic, all natural, and "leave no trace" kind of lifestyle. She is a certified History and English teacher and uses her degrees to write freelance curriculum and run www.ALLterNATIVElearning.com. She is a Christian, an environmentalist, a researcher, a teacher, a mom, and an entrepreneur. She and her husband blog about DIY and renovating their OKC house at http://rehabit.at

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