I love the focus on joy, fellowship, giving, and gratitude for S2. I think it is really smart to do this consciously from an early age. One thought on gratitude-- while I was raised to always, always write a handwritten thank you note, I also remember it feeling like a chore and the guilt that weighed me down for not writing them on time (still to this day).
When my girls were little, instead of written thank you cards I'd film little clips of them playing with their new toy or trying on their new clothes and saying "thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!" or whatever to the screen. S2's the perfect age to be soooo cute in a little video like that and he can participate far more than in a written card... and the recipients will love it. Now my kids write TY cards or call or facetime the giver to thank them personally, but I still love those little magical clips and their tiny little voices from when they were little.
And DnJ... we also live in a warm place for the holidays, but the kids would love a white Christmas! And there is something so lovely about bundling up and going out in the snow, and coming back to a warm house and hot chocolate. Enjoy
Me (46) H (42) M:14 T:18, D9 & D11 4/19 - 12/19: series of escalating BDs 9/20 - present: R and piecing
