Elisabeth Hasselbeck: How our family's Christmas went from 'getting' to 'giving'

It happened.

Our kids accidentally didn't ask for anything for Christmas last year.

Not a thing.

They did not have the chance.

Never did I think that this simple way of starting the day would change – I mean, really change -- the way we did Christmas.

(#Momfession: I did eventually ask them to make a wish list because I could not resist seeing their sweet crayon letters!)

The difference was simply that we started Advent with a different kind of list.

With some burlap ribbon, clothes pins, paper, and my trusty glue gun the change had begun:

The prep: (See first image on the right)

The idea: a "Merry and Bright Advent" calendar where (ideally) the kids would start their day by walking down the steps for breakfast -- excited to open up our Advent calendar and see how they could make someone's day better.

Secretly I had waged an emotional war with our Elf on the Shelf -- "Mittens" (who still finds himself fishing in snow, and bathing in mini-marshmallows) hoping that he would get a little less attention.

Never did I think that this simple way of starting the day would change – I mean, really change -- the way we did Christmas. After all, I didn't particularly have a problem with our Christmas. It was perfectly fine.

And there stood the problem:

"Fine," my least favorite word, had made its way into Christmas. And something was gently nudging me to do something about it.

I don't believe in magic -- but I do believe in miracles.

What happened in our home was one of those little miracles that will justify my craft project every, single, year

Our afternoons were transformed from "getting and wanting" to "giving and serving."

Our dinner talks were sweetened with the recap and play by play of knocking on the door of the firehouse, or writing a soldier a note of gratitude for his or her service, or driving by someone's home decorated in the Christmas spirit and leaving them a treat and a thank you note in their mailbox.