This Christmas holds some particular specialness for me. Mostly it’s because this is the first Christmas where my daughter (Emily) was 100% interested and understood what was happening. She TOTALLY believes in Santa Claus and I just can’t get over the look in her eyes about it. She was so excited about everything Christmas, and her energy was intoxicating and very addicting. She is what pulled me into the spirit this year, no question I lost it somewhere in the past few years.
I actually spent Christmas Eve alone with the kids because the wife was working (extra cash 
). I got Matthew in bed, and then started preparing the Christmas cookies and milk to leave out for Santa. I was so into it, it was so much fun! We had a great time getting out the special Santa plate, picking out the cookies for Santa and his reindeer, and placing them neatly in a pile on the plate. We even left Santa a napkin to wipe off the inevitable crumbs from cookies. 
It was as we were giving it a last second check to be sure everything was perfect, when Emily looked up at me, right into my eyes, and saw something I haven’t seen in anyone in a very, very long time: BELIEF IN SOMETHING. I couldn’t help it, but I got teary eyed. It was the neatest thing in the world to see, and I wish I could have captured that moment in a picture so I could remind myself of that sweet and innocent moment. Then again, I get to be the only one to share in that, so I do feel special that it was my moment, my memory. I will cherish it forever.
After we finished preparing the spread for Santa, I took her up to bed. And as I’m kissing her goodnight, she says, “Daddy, I have to keep my eyes open for I can wait for Santa.” Is there anything sweeter than a child’s innocence? I think not.
Christmas morning, I was up before everyone else. So I went down and made sure everything was ready, grabbed the video camera and filmed the scene before anyone disturbed and destroyed it. I went upstairs and woke up the kids (after filiming their little sleeping bodies for a minute, so cute). They were so excited! We went downstairs to the inevitable reaction to seeing what Santa had left for good little boys and girls: lots of presents and an excited yell of “WOW!!!” I’m so thankful for my kids, because moments like these just make the whole thing worth it.
As for the gifts, I was sorta selfish this year by spending most of our Christmas fund myself on the kids and the wife. I was given a pretty heavy guilt trip because she wanted to get me some things and just couldn’t. I don’t really care though, I had more fun watching her and the kids open all the things I got them. That is far more satisfying to me then to get a bunch of stuff I either don’t really want or will never use. Now I know why my dad always said that he didn’t need anything, and not to bother shopping for him. Oh the pains of maturation and growing up, eh?
We split the day the way we normally do over 4 different places. It’s simply a beating, and just isn’t as much fun as it used to be. I enjoy seeing everyone ON Christmas day, but at some point soon we’re going to have to change this little tradition because it’s not relaxing at all.
We wake up and do our Christmas at home with the kids, then dress and rush by 11am to her mother’s to do our Christmas with her mom and sister. This is also when Grammy does her Christmas for all the kids. So this process takes a couple hrs, and we’re rushing out the doory by 1pm to be at the “Family Christmas” get-together at her aunt’s house. This is really a big wash of time IMO, because all we do is eat and talk to people we just saw a month ago at Thanksgiving, when it’s a more appropriate holiday to do that. There’s no gift-giving other than the immediate family members and some trinkets for the kids. Then once again we are rushing out the door by 4pm to get to my parents house, where we eat dinner and open more presents.
For some reason, my parents decided to make this “my year” and get me way more gifts than anyone else. I couldn’t believe that I was still sitting there opening gifts when everyone was done. It really made me feel bad but my mom assured me it was because she wanted to, and not to feel bad. It’s hard to do that of course.
I think she went overboard, but the highlights of the gifts were:
- 500 count 11.5g ceramic poker chip set
- GameBoy Advance SP
- Nike Golf Set (3 gloves and 2 boxes of balls)
- Harry Potter Chess Set
- Spiderman DVD Gift Set
See? too much stuff.
It was a great holiday all-in-all, but I sure hope that next year we don’t have to rush around again. I really hate that. We’ll see…HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone, since I didn’t say it earlier.
