Christmas

"Now that's REALLY what I want for Christmas mommy!" Elijah has uttered these words more times than I care to mention. Every commercial that flashes on the TV screen from Lego hero builders to the "easy paste" toothpaste dispenser is on his ever growing Santa list. Christmas in a home with a 4 year old and a soon to be one year old proves to be stressful, exciting, and magical all in the same breath. As we walk back from the mailbox he frantically thumbs through the pages of the Target sales paper adding more and more to his wish list with each turn of the page. "Really? Elijah", I say as he expresses his hearts desire for a 15 foot inflatable Santa for our yard, "we don't really have room for that buddy." "Awww mommy! Its for Christmas we do need it" he exclaims as he runs circles around my legs. With that he is off and the topic is dropped for a least the next 10 seconds, 10 seconds of quite with a 4 year old can often feel like 10 blissful hours of peace. Speaking of peace I started thinking, with all the hype around the latest and greatest toy and my child's complete lack of understanding that owning one of everything on the target shelf just isn't right, maybe we should form a new holiday tradition...one of simplifying the holidays so that our children may come to understand the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the importance of helping our fellow man, of harvesting all our excitement and energy and putting it in service to others to the glory of the baby that was born in a lowly manger. As I ponder the possibilities I am reminded of my Christmases past and realize that I cannot remember a single gift from my childhood that is not documented with a photograph. I do however remember the smell of the Christmas tree my mom so carefully decorated, forget letting the kids help,,,this thing had to be perfect and mom was taking no chances by letting Burke or I hang an ornament. I mean, people from church were going to see it! If you know my mother at all you know that each detail is important and not to be overlooked or done halfheartedly. I mostly remember people, going to our church Christmas play where I was inevitably going to be Mary and "little" Joe would be Joseph where then afterward older ladies in the congregation would embarrass us by commenting on how we look so wonderful together. My father would wear his red sweater vest and Christmas tie which has thankfully evolved to a more fashion forward ensemble,,although I am hoping to see a bow tie sometime in the future! And then there are family memories which are all together hilarious and sometimes less than thrilling. My mother and father would load us up in the car and drive us an hour and a half on Christmas Eve to visit first my moms family and then my fathers, we would spend a few hours with each, long enough to either be completely happy with the gathering or completely miserable that we were forced to eat pigs in a blanket and listen to the Joneses talk politics while the gifts were under the tree just staring at us kids. When the family time was over and we headed home there is one thing my mother always did year after year, she would sing Christmas songs to my brother and I in her sweet soprano voice... Away in a Manger...this my friends is how I became to know the true meaning of Christmas and I wish it for each of you... that the words of soft song of our saviors birth will fill your heart and remind you that beyond all the bows and 15 foot Santa's, there is a song to be sung,, that of a baby's birth, a baby that was sent to be your Lord and Savior. So what do I plan to do this holiday for my Elijah and Jude? I plan to sing just as my mother did,,simply sing.