Monday, November 29, 2010

The Santa Mission

As I have said before, Christmas time is the absolute greatest time of the year. The birth of Jesus has been celebrated for over 2,000 years now!! That's simply astounding. But...I must admit, I do get a little nervous around the holidays. Even though I have stressed several times that I do not care to shop, (nope..not at all) I do love my little family and enjoy picking out their favorite items to place under the tree, or surprise them with what I place in their stockings. But, ya know...it can be really stressful. I have begun purchasing a gift or two..three to be exact, and my issue is where to hide them. I have begun sneaking around my house like the "grinch" in fear of getting caught and blowing the whole "hide the Christmas presents" mission right out of the water! What if someone sees me? What if they find what I have searched to get them and give to them on Christmas day? (Mind you..it's still only three presents purchased at this point.) And then there is the issue of "Santa". My kids are 17, 13, and 8. My two oldest have learned the "truth" about Santa, but my eight year old is still in love with the overweight, jolly, gift-giving man in the giant red suit! My worry is that one of us will slip up, let the cat out of the big red santa bag...and send him spiraling down a road of tears. That alone is stressful. Again...more sneaking around. We have to watch what we say. There's alot of "Shhh's" going on and alot of "Exnay on the Antasay" flying around. It can be just plain exhausting. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of Santa. I love all that the Big Guy is all about. I love the fact that I get to be him. I love keeping the dream alive in our home. I love the cookies and milk placed by the fire, and rushing my husband to eat all of them, except one piece and a few crumbs (it looks better on the plate like that) before the kids wake up on Christmas morning. I love feeding the reindeer on Christmas Eve with some oatmeal and sparkly sprinkles so that the light of the moon lights it up like an air strip for the reindeer. But...what happens when the truth finally comes out to the last kid in the house? Do we have to stop playing Santa? Does the dream fade away? Seriously...what happens? Do we finally stop sneaking around and allow the truth to hit us square in the face too? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess for now...I must enjoy the "sneaking around", the hiding, the snickers of laughter from my husband and I, and the sweet family traditions that we hold dear to our heart in this very moment. We do have a pretty neat tradition in our house. On Christmas Eve we put on a nice hot pot of coffee and wrap the Santa presents in our bedroom, while the kids are fast asleep. We drink coffee, giggle and reminisce of the Christmas moments in the past. A couple of years ago, our oldest daughter joined in with us...staying up, having coffee for the first time (her dad makes her frozen coffee instead of hot) giggling and wrapping presents for her siblings. Last year, our youngest daughter joined in...giving her coffee might have been a mistake. LOL Now we have Mr. and Mrs. Claus and their two caffeine crazed elves wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. And who knows...this year might be the year our little one joins us....NAH! Probably not. I think we have a couple of more years to strap on our Santa belt. The girls also enjoy keeping the secret alive for their brother. They too have joined in on the "sneaking around"...and to tell you the truth...they are pretty good at it. They've learned from the best! (smiley face) So for this Christmas...it is just that...this Christmas. Next Christmas will just have to take care of itself. Tradition is what it is all about. Keeping the "family" alive in all that we do. Family is essential to God. He created family first. God is the heartbeat of each family! His love flows through every aspect of our lives. Our traditions are important to Him and to the growth of our families. It is how we love eachother. The greatest tradition for us during Christmas is singing Happy Birthday to Jesus before we open up our presents. We celebrate Jesus! That we can all do every day of the year, and it doesn't involve any sneaking around. That...I like! John 13:34 A new command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another. Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own. Click on link below to see how this Blogger Mom is dealing with her "Santa" issues. #MomFail: Santa Edition

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