Little Holiday Surprises from My Boys

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Being a review blogger certainly has its perks but I worry that my boys are getting spoiled. With the rush at the door every time a package is delivered and their assumption it must be a toy for them,  I have to wonder.  They have come to expect random gifts throughout the year and I question if they appreciate all that they receive.

It seems that this Christmas both of my boys have long wish lists. And since many of the gifts they want are from companies I’ve never even worked with, it stands to reason it isn’t fair for them to only ever receive the toys that someone is willing to send us to review. But with that comes the potential for way too many toys for my boys.

My husband hasn’t always helped either. He enjoys letting them each pick out a small toy when we visit the store and although it isn’t every time we visit, it is often enough that they always ask and occasionally seem to expect it. Usually what works best for me is to explain that a toy needs to go back with his “friends” on a shelf or I remind them that the toy can go on their birthday or Christmas list. This of course makes the imaginary list quite long but it works to distract them until I can usher them out the door.

My boys however never fail to surprise me. This weekend I took the opportunity to wrap a few Christmas gifts and placed them under the tree. Last year the boys hardly paid attention to them but this year they got a bit obsessed with looking them over, finding out what who each present belonged to and stacking them in piles. (Not before giving them a shake and a hug.) They were so excited.  But two things caught me by surprise.

Lucian didn’t once ask where the rest of his presents were. Warren had more wrapped but he didn’t insist there must be more than the single gift down there under the tree for him. Instead he simply was excited about opening that one gift.

And Warren noticed that there wasn’t a single gift under the tree for me but there were two for daddy. Which made him feel sad and declare emphatically that he would share all his presents with me. He said it with such sincerity as he climbed into my lap and put his hand on my shoulder that I couldn’t help but get a rush of warmth.

So perhaps they aren’t so spoiled. They weren’t asking for more and were happy to share the few that they did have. And while those aren’t the only presents they will receive, it certainly helps me to know that they aren’t demanding more.  And for that, I am thankful.