The Warm Glow of Christmas

Christmas has come and gone.  The warm Christmas glow that surrounds my children seems to have tarnished a bit as the fatigue of late nights and three full days of skiing sets in.  As I look back at the holidays, I realize that despite some tarnish, we really had a great Christmas this year.

Our holiday is not just December 25.  We seem to have several weeks of events to attend.  I am not complaining that we are blessed with a big family and great friends who all want to see us over the holidays, but it years past it has left me completely exhausted.  I am exhausted because I begin preparing well before Thanksgiving and go full steam ahead until December 26, when the clean-up starts.  I do enjoy the preparations almost as much as the holiday.  They allow me the chance to talk with my kids about the things we value in life and to spend quality time with them while building memories.  I am amazed every year at how my children seem to view the entire Christmas event.

Colin is almost 10 years old.  He is starting to ask questions about life that are hard to answer. He wants to know why some people have so much while others have so little.  He wants to know why God would allow such things to happen if He really loves all of us. He thinks about his gift purchases and really wants to get something each person will appreciate, but sometimes his own needs still get in the way. He wants the XBox but also understands that it cost a lot.  He likes to spend time with the family, but would sometimes rather just play video games with his friends.  He did a great job of trying to keep the holiday magical for Zach and Molly.

Zachary is seven.  He is realizing that he is no longer just a member of this family, but a member of his school community too.  Not everything I tell him is the absolute truth.  It turns out that different people have different ways of doing things, even at Christmas. He really likes the magic of Christmas, but he doesn't feel comfortable believing in things he can't see.  He is generous to others, but really likes to buy things for himself more.  But, of all my children, he really pays attention to what gifts each person really wants and he wants to be sure to get those for them. He spends hours hand making cards and gifts for people too.  He even used his own money to buy a giant bone for the dog.  He still needs his family and likes having us around, so he wanted to be sure I volunteered at his class party.  But, he is getting to be embarrassed of us as well, so he ignored me when I came.  He was the most disappointed with Santa's attempt at gift giving, but LOVED the new fish he received from his parents.

Molly is almost five.  She started out December talking about Jesus and how this season was all about Him.  He sang her heart out in her school concert about the birth of Jesus Price (and I still can't correct her because it is so darn cute).  She opened her first present on Christmas Eve morning and it was the American Girl she wanted.  Her joy was uncontainable!  But then, the cute four year old was replaced with a five year old attitude. And, as she went from place to place opening piles of presents, we noticed the holiday went from about the birth of Jesus to about how many presents she was getting.  By the last present opening she cried out, "Only one present?  Where is the rest? How come I only get one present?" We were appalled to see the transformation happen that quickly before our eyes. And despite the fact that the same thing happened to her brothers at the same age, it was shocking to hear those words come from her mouth.

So as the warm Christmas glow began to disappear in my youngest child's declaration of greed, I realized her words were shocking because for the first time in many years I was really enjoying Christmas. And, it wasn't because I got the computer I have coveted for so long; but, because for the first time in as long as I can remember I didn't worry about having the perfect holiday.  It was because my children were finally old enough to help get everything ready (well except poor Zach who got the stomach flu on December 23 and had to worry about getting to participate in Christmas at all) which left me feeling less overwhelmed and exhausted.  And until the Molly meltdown, everyone was grateful for the time with family and friends and the gifts they received.

The warm Christmas glow may be almost completely distinguished now, but the memories of a truly wonderful Christmas will be kept until next year.

(videos and pictures to follow soon)