So we at the Nerdfamily house are trying to recover from Christmas and all the chaos that it brings. The children seemed to enjoy their numerous gifts(Nerdmom may have once again over done it) and the noise form the gifts are slowly driving me nutty(or further nutty). Every year I am puzzled as to what is an appropriate amount of gifts. In reality each kids would probably be happy with just one medium gift each. I always get a deal and don’t spend that much(relatively to when they are older and want iPod’s and mp3 players) so I am always suprised to how much volume it adds up to. The kids are still so young that they haven’t quite got the “me, me, me’s” yet and I really want to make sure that they never get them.

This was the first year that any of them fully understood Christmas and anticipated any gifts. Nerdbug(4 1/2) was adorable as he geared up for Christmas( and Chanukah). He began realizing that Christmas morning there would be stuff waiting for him. Nerdbug and Nerdpie(2 1/2) learned the dreidal song and would go through Target singing it loudly. Nerdpie would very patiently explain what Chanukah was for and then explain Christmas. I was very proud that he could keep them straight. Nerdpie got a dolly and she(we) named it Molly. It is now attached to her hip. When I feed Nerdling she feeds Molly. Luckily we have her convinced that she needs a bottle and not to nurse like Nerdling(we have many discussions about this). Nerdbug loves his race track and garage. I also get the opportunity to go over board because they share toys. They got Kitchen set stuff and Tools(pretend) that they share(this will be imprtant in a later post).

NerdDad is also a little amazed at the Grandparent deal. His grandparents had passed by the time he was born and mine were never involved but that isn’t the case for our kids. When we visited NerdDad’s Parents gave them each something. Then it was a couple of huge boxes from my dads. Yes, I said dads. My birth dad sent a huge box of books, dvds, and clothes for the baby. Then my middle father(my mom’s 2nd husband out of 3) sent a big box with toys for the older kids and clothes for the baby. Neither NerdDad or I had anything like this so it still amazes us.

So this brings me back to my original question. How much do kids really need for Christmas? Especially since we are teaching them that this isn’t what Christmas is about. Hopefully I will figure it out before I buy all of next year’s gifts….