Merry Christmas! And while we greet everyone we know with those two words and sing those words in almost every carol and tack it onto our nightly goodnight hugs, I needed to write it down to give it more emphasis.
Merry Christmas!
It's amazing how two words can hold SO much meaning, so much emotion and so much growth. I've lived to celebrate 38 Christmas holidays and I've cherished the magic of every single one. Christmas, for me, will always be:
Family laughter, red velvet bows and The Sweet Smell of Christmas.
Cabbage Patch Kids, plaid taffeta dresses and Swatch watches.
Black patent leather shoes, egg nog and Johnny Mathis.
My dad in his robe, red poinsetta's and Atari 5200
Midnight mass, Aunt Nor and Fannie May Candies.
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| Family Fact:My siblings and I used to use a safety pin and prick the bottom of the candies to see what the filling was without having to bite it. Cream filling was the most coveted! |
38 years of Christmas memories come flooding back every year. And I love it, I love reliving my Christmas pasts. Case in point, my mother. Her passion for Christmas could be seen everywhere. Her artificial tree (always with the fake tree mom-why?) was decked out with red bows, white lights and fake white doves that I used to scare the shit out of Gabrielle with. No joke, she was deathly afraid of the fake birds! Every doorway in our house had an evergreen garland arch, white bathroom towels were switched out for the fancy red and gold and the smell of balsam incense that burned from the teeny tabletop log cabin meant that Christmas was here. My parents filled our home with so much love and laughter that it's hard not to forget how meaningful these celebrations were. Except for that one Christmas that will forever go down as the educational Christmas. Speak and Spell Mom, really??!! A laminated world map, too? But really, it's because of their yuletide spirit that I have learned the importance of making these Christmas memories with you, my kiddos.
Tonight we had our 2nd annual Christmas Pajama Jam (here's last years) where each of you got to invite some friends over for a Christmas party and your dad and I watched as suddenly your own Christmas memories were being made.
Chancey, it blew your mind that 30 some kids were hanging out in your house. Your excitement was obvious. You greeted everyone with a Merry Christmas and proudly showed off your "baby brudda" to all who entered. You had a blast--except when you fell off of Bella's bed and cracked your head on the floor. Luckily, you had a house full of girls who tended to your ailment, and let me tell ya, you loved every second of it!
Mia. My mama Mia. My free spirited, enthusiastic little party animal. Tonight, you loved having your own kindergarten friends by your side. Don't get me wrong, you get along great with Bella's friends but tonight I saw how proud you felt that your friends were here. But my absolute favorite part was watching you on the dance floor. With the utmost confidence you danced your tush off all night long. You didn't need anyone dancing by your side-just yourself and the music. And I swear to you Mia, that is one of the BEST qualities to have.
Bella, you are such a fun person to be around and your friends really, really like you. All I could do was smile as you and your gal pals circled around eachother on the dance floor. Especially that one moment when all the girls hoisted you up over their heads as if it was your Bah Mitzvah! Hah! These next couple of years are when friendships become the utmost of importance and I look forward to watching you become someone's best friend--other than Mia, of course.
My little Indy. First of all, THANK YOU. Normally, you are a total and complete Mama's boy and can't stand being away from me for longer than a minute. But tonight you were SO tired that you cuddled in the arms of several different moms and for that I'm grateful. You won't have the memories of this fun night, but luckily you've got 3 awesome siblings to remind you. And yeah, you can get me back for the ridiculous elf hat I made you wear but seriously dude, you looked adorable!
Kids, another chapter was added to your Christmas scrapbook tonight and I hope that one day, you'll all look back on these memories with an even greater sense of appreciation for the lovely life we live.
And when you're really old and your memories are faded, use this as a reminder:
Merry Christmas!
All my love,
Mommy
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