This post was sponsored by BlueLounge for Target. There are a lot of challenges that come with living in the technological age… the demands on our time of being constantly reachable, the potential distraction from being present, and the unique challenges of monitoring kids and their time on screens. But one of the aspects of our tech use that continues to allude me is how to store all of our devices. Ironically, I would consider us a pretty low-tech family. But with four kids and two . . .

We’ve all experienced it, though I’m not sure anyone has come up with a name for it. The Christmas Cringe? The Seasonal Squirm? Mortified Yuletide? Whatever we call it, it's that moment when your child gets a gift from a well-meaning family member...and it immediately becomes clear that your child won’t like the gift. Maybe they already have one. Or it was last year's popular toy and has lost its appeal. Or it's just not appropriate because your son is into skateboards and not baseball, but . . .

[photo credit] I have a love-hate relationship with the Christmas letter. I’ve always loved getting those letters from friends: reading them, keeping up with their activities, and watching their children age in the delightful photos.And while I loved reading them, I also began to become annoyed at how easily these letters turned into here’s-why-our-family-is-awesome PSAs. In the early 2000s, I started writing a satirical Christmas letter—we called it The Howertons’ Fabulous, Fabulous Lives®—and . . .