Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The Wonders of The Season

Christmas is just around the corner and you can feel the excitement brewing in the air. Gregg is putting our Christmas tree up tonight which is going to require the moving around of furniture. I can't wait to see Violet's expression when the tree goes up. This will be the first Christmas since she was born that we'll have a large tree in the house. Three is old enough for her to contain herself and keep her fingers away from the ornaments, right? Yes, I heard you snickering as you read that! Still, it's going to be nice to have a tree up this year.

Last year our Christmas tree was this tiny thing that we got from a local pharmacy. It was cheap. It fit on the dinning table and was out of Violet's reach... all the things that were important to me at the time. We still have that little tree and I plan to put it in Violet's room. Maybe, just maybe, she'll leave the big tree alone since she'll have a little one in her room to gaze at. I know, it's probably wishful thinking on my part but allow me that, will you?

The weather has been cooperating with the Christmas season. It's actually been cool here, by Houston standards. We've even had some days that were actually cold, requiring a coat. Goodness, even our car had ice on the windshield earlier this week when Gregg left for work! Now, that's more like Christmas should be!!! Still, if the weather doesn't continue to cooperate we'll have cold weather to look forward to when we visit Pops and Mimi in Michigan and GiGi and G.Paw in Indiana, not to mention a whole slew of other family members. We can't wait!

In the meantime, while we anxiously await our visit up North, we've been trying to point out everything Christmas to Violet. We've been reading stories about Jesus and telling her the story of His birth. Without trying to sound cliche-ish (is there such a word?), He is the reason we have this glorious season to celebrate. Jesus should be the focus of this time. We still share the joy of Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, but he's not the focus. Besides, we don't mind telling the story of St. Nick since he was a real person and did a lot of good in the name of Christ.

Violet watched Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer last night. She was very serious while watching it. Gregg and I could feel the magic of Christmas as we watched the show through Violet's eyes. I remembered the wonder I felt as a child while watching ole' Rudolph. But it's amazing how much more magical Christmas is when you have a child in the house.

One tradition my family had when I was a child was going out and seeing Christmas lights on Christmas eve. While my cousins and I were piled into one of our aunt's or uncle's car, and my grandmothers stayed home to clean up something or another, Santa would visit our house. My grandmothers seemed genuinely surprised when the kids noticed all the new presents that appeared under the tree while they weren't looking. I'm not kidding when I say this, it wasn't until I was a teenager when I figured out what was happening. I want Violet to experience that same type of wonder. I want her to feel the magic of the season and I believe we're off to a good start with that.

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