More often than not, at Christmas time, we think of presents, a happy time with our families and friends, while we enjoy Christmas fare together.

The challenge for Christian parents at Christmas time is to help their children to appreciate the miraculous birth of the Lord Jesus, God's son. The Christian traditions of church attendance, Carols by Candlelight and nativity plays are wonderful ways for the children to experience the Christmas story. Children generally love to hear the story. Knowing it, gives a depth to their understanding of what giving is all about.

For adults I think the presents are less important. It's more about getting together with family and friends. For the kids there is no doubt that presents play a big part. Parents try hard to give a much wanted gift that will be valued and treasured by their child.

I remember one year my mother suggested a dress up outfit would be a good present for me. I was clearly too old for it and I remember thinking 'Gosh she's usually gets it right, why did she think I would want one of those?' I was old enough to know that she was a sensitive woman and I tried to let her know gently that a dress up outfit would be a waste of money!

One year we gave one of our daughters a burgundy coloured camera. I got the camera right but burgundy was not her colour of choice. She had wanted a 'red' camera but it was not the right red. She is a bit of an artist and very affected by colour. The look of disappointment on her face was very apparent.

She remembers me being cross with her as she had asked for a red camera, and saying 'No, we are not taking it back' and being quite disapproving that she was not more grateful.  She remembers that we made her feel really bad for not graciously accepting the gift. It became a bit of a legend in the family and we used to tease her about the burgundy camera.

So as much as we try to bless others with the gifts we give them, sometimes we will get it wrong.

We need to be sensitive to our children whilst at the same time helping them to learn to cope with disappointment. Accepting and acknowledging your children's feelings is important but this does not mean that you have to try to rescue them from the disappointing experience every time. In hindsight I wish I had been a little more sensitive towards my daughter. She laughs now and says 'Mum it did not scar me for life!'

The challenge with Christmas is to integrate the spiritual with the material as it is definitely a season full of both these aspects of life.

I hope your Christmas is a blessing to you and your family on every level.