What's your thing?

Last night we were greeted with a small tin outside our door with a folder. It had instructions (in a small poem) that told us to open the gift and then pass a new gift along to someone else. You were to post one of the paper's found in the folder on your door to let other's know that you had already been "hit". It was so great! It really got me into the Christmas Spirit.

We may have cheated a bit by re-gifting another item and putting it in the tin, but we sure did turn that thing around in a hurry! We went to another neighbor of ours and did the whole knock-and-run thing that I remember doing so much as a kid. I guess we missed out on the last few years due to living in the apartments before moving into our home, as in the 4 years that we have lived in the area, this is the firt time we were chosen to participate. I was so excited!

It ended up being a good teaching opportunity for Sofia as well as she was not ready to relinquish the tin. She already had it in mind for some of her small toys. We talked with her and within a few minutes, she was excited as I was to pass it along. Tonight were doing our own knock-and-run gifts to our friends and family. I cannot wait to see the girls' reaction. I hope they enjoy it as much as I used to...

So. What's your thing? What do you do to make CHRISTmas more about him and less about everything else?