Last year I shared why we stopped giving our children traditional Christmas presents and the responses that I got blew my mind! From the emails, messages and comments I received I could definitely tell that something in my story struck a chord with a lot of readers. So here I am, one year later ready to check in and update you on how it’s going and what we love / hate about the whole process.
If you haven’t seen my original post, click here to read it…I promise that this post will make much more sense after that.
The last time we chatted about this, we were getting ready to head to Vermont to ski with the kids. Well, I can attest to that being a 100% success! We woke our kids up at 0300 on December 22nd of last year to “celebrate Christmas.” They had no idea what was coming (as we hadn’t gone on our trip until February the first year). We bustled them down stairs and had them quickly open their gifts before we set out on our road trip that vey morning.
As a last minute addition, my hubby and I decided that an overnight stay in New York City would be amazing since we would be driving right by it. So off we went, in our Christmas pajamas to the Big Apple.
We skated at Rockefeller Center, went dizzy seeing all the lights of Times Square, visited Lady Liberty and even made a stop into Tiffany’s all in one whirlwind evening. It was incredible!
The next day we were off again on our way to Vermont. It took the rest of the day to get up there, so we checked into our condo and tucked in for a good night’s sleep. The next day, Christmas Eve, the kids had their very first ski lesson and found a new passion. They all loved it soooo much and couldn’t wait to go back the next day. We spent the next 4 days on the mountain (including Christmas Day!) and the kids are now better skiers than I am! We also squeezed dog sledding and a day off to go to Ben and Jerry’s factory.
To say that last year’s trip was a success is such an understatement. It was phenomenal!
This year we are once again hoping to open the kiddos eyes to new experiences and we are taking the family to Thailand. Although the surprise of the location itself was spilled while visiting grandparents over the summer, the kids are in the dark about where exactly we are going (hint: it’s not Bangkok) or what we are doing (swimming with elephants in the ocean, anyone?!).
To hear about my filming for Good Morning America and my list of love / hates for our gifts, read part 2 of this post here.
What an interesting concept. While I don’t think I can get away with it in my house, it’s certainly food for thought.