Thanksgiving has come and gone and the Christmas season is in full swing. Tree up, decorations up, lights are lit up, and the Christmas scented candles are burning. My shopping is pretty much complete and the presents are pretty much all wrapped except for the few stragglers I've been waiting to get here from my online shopping.
Christmas family traditions are important to me. When I was a kid, me, Mandy, and Jessi would always pretend we were asleep when my parents would come in to check on us. This was after we were old enough to know that they were really Santa. As soon as we could, we were up and sneaking peaks at what they had filled our stockings with. They made us stay in bed until 6 am. We could then get them up to go open presents. I'm pretty sure Nicole was too mature for all of this excitement. I believe that she and my parents would have rather had their beauty rest rather than wake that early to open gifts when in all actuality, they would still be there if we had waited another 2 hours! But we couldn't wait. The excitement was too much for us.
Now that I am married with children of my own, our traditions have changed slightly. But I am trying my hardest to make sure that they are the same each year. David doesn't really understand or actually care all that much. Kyle is five now though. He is understanding that Christmas is about giving and receiving gifts now. And spending time with family. And this year, we are actually reading the story of Jesus' birth to him. I definitely want him to know that this is what it's REALLY all about.
The excitement of seeing their little faces on Christmas morning still gets to me. I still have a hard time sleeping in on that morning. Unfortunately, Michael, David, and Kyle are all a lot like my parents and Nicole were on Christmas morning when I was a kid. They would rather sleep in! So this year, while they are all asleep and I'm not, I guess I will just wait in anticipation for their arrival around the tree!
I'm sure this will be my last post until after Christmas and possibly the New Year. For the rest of the year, I will be focusing on the people in my life who mean the most. And creating and maintaining all the family traditions I want to carry on for my kids. So, from my family to yours, have a wonderful Christmas season!
