Wiseman on the Ottoman

So I'm pretty sure I wrote a similar post last season and if I'm just imagining that, I know I read similar posts by many of you!

Christmas is here again...which is awesome...but I'm finding myself in another quandary of family traditions to set and how to make sure the kids grow up with an appropriate focus. **sigh** And I'm still lost on exactly how to do this.

For instance, this is the first time I've really been creeped out by the old family "Santa Clause is Coming to Town"...
He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake????

Creepy.
And then we watched Elf the other night which is all about Believing and some who see to believe and I couldn't help but think of how close some Christmas traditions come to paralleling Jesus Christ, but miss it...
The Polar Express brought about the same thoughts to me too...so close, but obviously without Christ, it's missed.

So part of my struggle with traditions is if I'm going to teach my kids to Believe and Hope, like all the famous classics do, I want them to ultimately believe and hope in Jesus Christ (whom the holiday is all about anyway).

But I also don't want to neglect the fun and my kids' imaginations, either.

Then there's the Elf on the Shelf which seems to be BLOWING up this season in every home. To me it sounds super fun and a great tradition, but then when I think about how it might play out long term, I'm nervous it can be an EXTREME focal point everyday. And this elf is suppose to report to Santa what you're doing? So I'm nervous it can create a sense of "OOH! We need to please the elf today so he tells santa how good we are!"

Again, so close, but sooo off.

Then I thought, what if the Elf brings a piece of the real Christmas story everyday tot he kids and writes them letters about baby Jesus? What if he brings them pieces of the nativity scene?

Instead of "Elf on the Shelf" how about "Wiseman on the Ottoman"? (Totally j/k on that one).

My friend Bethany told me about how she saw an Advent calendar that had a service project on it each day for the kids and parents to do...love that idea!

Anyway, I struggle with how to approach this! Thankfully the kids still aren't that old, but Lincoln's right on the brink of all this stuff.

I, like many of you I know, just want to make sure Christ's birth doesn't get overshadowed by Santa coming, or the Elf watching them everyday, or the presents they get...

So what has worked for you in finding balance with this???? Would LOVE to hear!!!!!!!