Insanity...I plead the fifth.

My husband reminded me of one of my favorite sayings " the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expected different results". He was reminding me of this today, Christmas, when my eldest was crying and mad because he couldn't get his Ipod working and my middle child was upset because he only counted four presents from Santa. I was trying to take a deep breath and remember why exactly I like Christmas.

From my earlier postings you know that I have been struggling with this whole holiday. It hasn't been just this year. Each year, my children have similar reactions and I just find myself frustrated. What exactly do I expect from them you might ask? I guess just some sort of appreciation. When I look back at my child hood Christmases I try to think I wasn't so bratty, but truth be told, I probably was. (insert my mother's laugh here)

So how do I turn this holiday around? For the past few years, I have toyed with the idea of coming up with some sort of volunteerism instead. A soup kitchen, a family to make Christmas for... something that can give my children some other type of meaning of Christmas besides the material items under the tree. So why haven't i done it? I guess part of me struggles with the thought that it shouldn't just be around Christmas that we volunteer. But where do we start? How do we get involved? and when can I fit it in their schedules when I only have them during the weekdays? I will take any suggestions out there, or ideas... my hope is that I can build the character of my children (and myself along the way) so that next Christmas we can take on an even bigger meaning of Christmas and my insanity can end!