It's Christmas time! To some, it is the most wonderful time of the year. People are nicer. People have something to look forward to, and be excited about. I love that about this holiday. It is wonderful. But it is not my favorite holiday. It is my husband's though. Christmas is supposed to be magical. I love trying to create that magic for my children. It's hard for me to feel magical about it, though. There are too many things to worry about. It's a lot of work. I miss the days when I was a kid at Christmastime.
I remember a Christmas that was magical for me. I was in third grade, so I was eight years old. My grandparents were on an LDS mission in England at the time. My mom had us record what we wanted for Christmas on a cassette tape, so she could mail it to them. I told them what I wanted, but I didn't see how they could possibly give it to me. They were so far away! Letters took a long time to get to them, and for us to receive their reply! There's no way they would even have that toy over there, was there? On Christmas morning, I came into the living room where our Christmas tree was adorned with the many beautiful ornaments we had spent putting on the tree together for family home evening earlier in the season. There it was! My present from Grandma! How did she get it to me on time? It seemed too impossible to be true. I hoped. I wondered. Could it be? Could she have given me what I wanted?
When we were finally allowed to open our presents, I ripped into that package excited with anticipation. I cried out with delight, "It's exactly what I wanted! How did Grandma get it to me on time?" It was a Christmas miracle!
That's the magic I want to create for my children.
But this year, Riley asked us if there really was a Santa Claus. We were all in the car, driving to the hardware store to get something (I can't remember what), and he kept repeating, "There is no Santa Claus! He can't be real! If Santa is real, they why do we always only get presents we can afford?!"
We calmed him down, and told him that if he didn't stop it Santa wouldn't visit him this year. Kaleb believes. We didn't want to ruin Christmas for him this year. At the store, Kaleb had to go to the restroom, so we sent him with Zach. We held Riley back with us and had the talk about Santa Claus. How do I create magic for my children now? Kurtis and I are pretty sure Zach doesn't really believe either. He just doesn't want to rock the boat - just in case. But Riley has a need to always be right, and used his deductive reasoning and knowledge to figure out the truth.
The same thing happened to me when I was older. My Grandmother told me she always gives my mom a check for Christmas, and she goes out and buys what we want with it. The light bulb went on, and I realized there was nothing amazing about receiving that gift from my grandparents. Have I really become so jaded? I don't want that to happen to my kids. I don't think they need to get everything on their lists. That's just crazy. Riley wants a hundred dollars (among other things)! I think it's funny. He asked for money. Kaleb will be easier to please. He only asked for four things on his list. Pokemon cards is one of them. I do love this time of year, though. But I still say Halloween is the best!
3 comments:
We began to have the same issue at our house last Christmas. We'll see how it goes this year. When I was growing up, my parents would invite the older kids to help create the magic for the younger siblings. Getting to help create "Santa" helped all of us hold onto the magic, just in a different way. And as an adult, I still feel that way! I love creating the magic for my kids and fully intend to let them help once they figure things out. (Which may be much sooner than I would like. I had a doubting Thomas last year.)
I think my comments on this topic could fill a whole blog. Maybe i will. :) I do not remember making a tape at all- maybe i was jaded already. Don't be so pessimistic- the magic doesn't always have to do with presents. :l
A brief response- I've told my "non-believers" that Santa is the ultimate symbol of Christ- giving all and asking for nothing & I believe in that & that Santa is a magical feeling that is wonderful & shouldn't be taken away from children. Some may argue he is commercial and takes away from the Savior, but I think if you take away Santa you have taken away all hope in Christ as well. I also tell my kids that I ask Santa to stay within a budget because it is not healthy to receive everything you want because then we forget that Christmas is about Christ's gift and love etc. Also, we just have Santa bring a family gift- it started for selfish reasons because if our kids were going to get something awesome I wanted it to be from me, but it has helped with the Why can't Santa bring me a water park in my backyard type stuff (yes, my kids dream BIG). Yes, that is my short answer. :)
I just looked at my comment above and want you to know that frown after presents was meant to be a smile.
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