This was the year. THE YEAR! Olivia and Calvin really really got Christmas. The happiness and excitement flowed through them like sugar through their veins. They were giddy! They couldn’t sleep. They giggled all night in anticipation of the coming day. And it was so fun for Wyatt and I to listen to their tortured souls lament the slow ticking of the clock.
“We won’t open presents until 7” we warned them, when we finally sent them to bed (at 11:00 pm). We hoped, but didn’t really believe, it would convince them to sleep in. They finally crept into our room at 6:50. They’d already spent hours watching TV they told us. They’d already peeked into the living room, seeing the few unwrapped gifts Santa had left (bikes for everyone!)
Finally, the clock ticked over to 6:59, and I got up. I hoped the extra 60 seconds would give me a head start for pictures of sleepy kids coming into the room. No such luck. And then the opening ceremonies began.
Gifts, and gifts, and more gifts.
It was a great year. A fun year. One full of blessings. I was grateful that the gifts my children requested were all within our budget and within our temperaments as parents to allow them to have. (Ok, well, Calvin did have $2,000 at the top of his list for Santa, but he seemed to have forgotten about that by Christmas morning, and seemed just as happy with the bicycle and books and office supplies we gifted him).
As I lay in bed listening to the kids count down those last few minutes, I felt joy at this pinnacle year of anticipatory joy of Christmas. Even being awoken early was of no consequence to the happiness of their little hearts. And then I realized, I will likely have a child in this stage for the next ten to twelve years!
Merry Christmas!