Every Christmas Eve I have a moment when I’ve arranged all the surprises, wrapped all the presents, stuffed all the stockings, then I stand back and look at the array and wonder “will they be happy?” As a parent I really want Christmas to be a joyful, magical day where dreams come true. Some years I’ve stood back and wondered if I’d gotten too much, thus causing overload. This year I fear disapointment. There are simply some items that my kids would love to have and I can’t afford to buy for them. Tonight during our Christmas Eve ritual we talked carefully about finding joy in giving and mentioned the fact that we won’t all get everything we want.
I hope that if there are tears tomorrow I know what to say to mend them.
Like many of your other posts this one touches that place in my heart where I store so many memories of times with my own kids – some that haven’t surfaced in years.
If there are tears this morning I know you’ll wipe them – and let your children wipe yours, too.
I hope you’re having a joyous Christmas. My love to you and all you hold dear, from my heart to yours and theirs.
Yes Christmas is going well. No disappointed tears thus far. I’ll probably create a more detailed entry later.
This year, we kept it really simple ’cause we just bought our house. We have a little extra, but we had so much more fun delivering the presents to our neighbors and stuff that it was okay that we only had a few presents under the tree (besides-we have inlaws that always go completely overboard).