Three Gifts

After mentioning my frustration with the chaos of the Christmas season, a friend shared this.

She said, "I have centered gift-giving around the three gifts of Christmas - gold, frankincense & myrrh. I give each of my children three gifts labeled 'The Gift of Gold,' 'The Gift of Frankincense,' 'The Gift of Myrrh.' (Each gift may actually have one or more gifts that go along with it, but I bundle them together to represent the single gift.) Each gift represents a type of gift that you give. For example, the Gift of Gold represents 'garment,' or in other words, clothes. I might give one outfit for that gift, but would separately wrap each item so there was more than one box to open, but they would all be bundled together. Make sense?

"The Gift of Frankincense represents something 'fun,' and the Gift of Myrrh represents something for the 'mind.' The 'mind' gifts are sometimes the most difficult to think of, but some gifts I've given in the past are books, music, scrapbooking material, telescope, sports equipment, art supplies or anything that inspires growing and building talents. You get the idea.

"Anyway, it's worked well for me and my kids were very accepting of the whole idea, even though it meant less "things" Christmas morning. It's fun to hear them refer to their gifts by these names, too; it makes me feel like a better mom."

Seems brilliant. What do you think? What works for you to simplify and focus during this season of the year?