Christmas is a classroom

The Christmas season offers such an amazing opportunity for learning and growth. I think of all the values I hope to teach my kids and Christmas is the perfect time to do it. Things like compassion and having a giving heart, priorities, budgeting, dreaming big, being grateful and also accepting small disappointments and trying new things. I learned a lot this year, about myself, mostly. Some good and some not quite.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned this year: Riding the bus with the third graders on a field trip is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was an awesome, fun, good time. BE ADVENTUROUS!

You can make anything out of gingerbread. I am amazed at the imagination and creativity I saw at the Festival of Trees. BE CREATIVE!

Not everyone is going to cooperate. They are not going to sit still or want to go see the Christmas lights at Temple Square when you want to go. BE FLEXIBLE!

They are only 9 once. JUST BE!

Trying new things can be scary but they usually turn out to be super fun. BE BRAVE!

Dinner is what you make it. BE FUN!