The days leading up to Christmas morning were almost unbearable for me this year. With six Christmas mornings under my belt, I now know that a request to Santa is never a given; and, that there are always little twists along the way. This year, Christopher and I both had our eyes and minds set on a Wipeout game for the Nintendo Wii, a tetherball pole, and some glittery markers. It seemed like a reasonable list, but we had our ups-and-downs that landed us on the Naughty List at least a few times in the run-up to Christmas Day. We did our best to get along--the biggest challenge with Christopher right now--made Gingerbread Houses, baked cupcakes and cookies, and even went to Church and sang carols on Christmas Eve. Shortly after dinner, we set-out the cookies and carrots for Santa and Rudolph and I begged to go to bed.
It was an entirely different experience this year because I knew the rules. I know that I drove mommy crazy--asking her if I was on the Naughty or Nice List every 15 minutes--but I wanted to make sure that I was doing what was necessary to warrant a visit from Santa. I also tried to get mommy and daddy to go to bed early because I was aware that Santa wouldn't come if anyone was awake in the house. When the morning came, Christopher was the first up around 6:30 am and he was the one to announce from the hallway, "Benjamin, Santa came! There are presents everywhere!"
We got a lot of great gifts from our friends, family, aunts, uncles, and of course from Santa. Knowing that many kids did not get presents or a warm place to sleep this year, we were extremely grateful for what we have. We spent most of the day inside the house putting together our legos, playing little bowling games, and trying out our new toy car garage sets. In the afternoon, when it warmed up, we finally got outside and played some tetherball.
When we had to take down the Christmas Tree and lights this weekend, Christopher particularly was very sad. He mourned each ornament and light strand as we packed it into boxes and shipped it upstairs to the attic. Each morning, he asks about where the tree and ornaments go and expresses his love for them. He is definitely the emotional one in the family and becomes very attached to things. We only have 359 days left until Christmas so we are going to get started off on the right foot and see if we can stay on the Nice List throughout the year. In the meantime, Happy New Year and thank you to everyone that sent us gifts, cards, and warm holiday wishes!
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