Thursday, December 31, 2009

Pondering Christmas

There are lots of things that parents don't get credit for throughout the lifetime of their children. This year I realized that most of this "discredit" happens during the holiday season.I worked my tail off this Christmas to buy presents that I thought my children, who already have EVERYTHING, would really enjoy.

I braved the malls when five million other people were doing the same thing.
I spent money on things that my kids didn't REALLY need. I wrapped for hours to make sure everything was hidden and discreet.I tucked all of the presents neatly under the Christmas tree in preparation for Christmas morning.
I stayed up late on Christmas Eve, waiting for my excited children to fall asleep so that I could fill their stockings to overflowing.And on Christmas morning, when my kids came running into my bedroom before the sun had even risen, to wake me up with shear excitement, who got all the credit for the overflowing stockings and numerous wrapped gifts under the tree?That chubby, white-haired hair man who goes by the name of Santa Claus.Have you ever thought about that? And have you ever given any thought to just how trusting children are?

This year we were given an "Elf on the Shelf." A little elf, which our family named Melvin, showed up one evening with a story book, to explain his job. He was sent to our home by the big man himself, to keep an eye on the behavior taking place within our house. Each night he would head back to the North Pole to report to Santa. The next morning, and every morning after, until Christmas Eve, he would be found in a different place, carrying out the same job.

It struck me as funny, that my kids never questioned how he got into our house. Or that they never gave it a second thought that, "Hey, maybe Mom and Dad are moving that little stuffed character around the house after we go to sleep at night."

I guess if they never question why Santa uses the exact same wrapping paper that Mom uses, they wouldn't question Melvin's existence!
And just one more Christmas item to ponder since we're on the subject. Have you ever given any thought to the fact that it takes 4 hours to wrap all of the presents and only 4 seconds to unwrap them?

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Rest up until next year!

2 comments:

M&D's Mommy said...

Santa only brings one gift for each child - unwrapped - due to the mentioned wrapping paper issue. Santa's gift also does not come in the boxes because someone asked "how come Santa's gift looks like the ones we see in the stores?" So this year - no wrapping paper and no boxes! And the elf - she did ask how exactly does he come and go - I was able to satisfy her with "Christmas magic". But she is definitely observant so we have to be EXTRA careful!

Michael, Jessica, Jacob & Olivia Catanzaro said...

Jacob's first Christmas, he was all of 9 days old, my dad comes to me and said, "You remember about the wrapping paper right?". I looked at him blankly as any mother of a 9 day old baby would. He proceeded to explain that during my entire Santa believing childhood my parents kept a secret hidden roll of paper in which to only wrap the one Santa gift. Crazy enough it was a different roll of paper every year and just this Spring I fould that stash of paper hidden away while cleaning out my grandma's house. I guess that justified why I rushed out to buy a different roll of wrap for my 9 day old son who certainly would never remember. I guess it also justifies why every year I make a secret trip to Target in search of some special wrapping paper that only Santa would use! One day I'll look at grown up Jacob and Olivia and tell them about the wrapping paper and maybe see them rush out the door.