Christmas joy | here i am

I still love the Christmas and Holiday card sharing tradition, even though we have social media and instant updates. Do you?

Do you send cards? Do you enjoy receiving cards? I do. I do.

I absolutely love this tradition and love it even more now that Juliana has been helping me. We have a Google Doc that we update every year keeping our addresses current and I love how organized the process has become. She likes to hand write the addresses and stuffs the cards inside the envelopes for me. She keeps them in alphabetical order and has them ready for me to see and touch, stamp and seal.

As I touch each card, I spend a moment thinking of the person or family that the card is going to and reflect on our relationship and connection and say a prayer for them. It’s a little sacred moment that I truly enjoy.

Thank you for your cards, thoughts and well wishes – whether digitally or physically. I love the anticipation of waiting for the cards to arrive each day and seeing and opening your cards. The kids know how much I love this and even though they want to open them, they wait for me to do it and watch. We hang them up on our kitchen wall so that we can all enjoy the lovely faces and friendships and recall stories of how we know one another. I love seeing how families grow up and change so magically from year to year.

Wishing you love and light and a Merry Christmas in only 5 more days.

nAMaste

He loves the holidays, and was so excited to get one more inflatable this year. At first I said no, that we didn’t need to buy another Christmas item, and told him that we couldn’t have everything that we wanted. I was being like the Scrooge, killing his Christmas spirit while I was trying to teach a lesson, not that I have to give him everything he wants, but what if this is his last year of being like a child and I blew it being Scrooge-ish? I was stuck in the middle between the yin and yang of giving and just being happy with what you have moment.

I was going to stick with the no-line, until we tried to untangle his lighted, spiral, outdoor Christmas tree from last year that took forever and a day and I just threw it away. After that, I decided to change my mind and since he looked online to compare prices and found a local store that had one for sale for less than I was prepared to pay, I said yes. You should have seen the thrill in his eye. He gave me a big hug and then asked me when we could go buy the 6 foot tall Santa Clause. I told him he had to wait until Sunday and that practicing waiting was a good thing to learn. I still wanted the opportunity to teach and to not just indulge his latest instant gratification request.

He waited patiently and I was able to surprise him the next day because he wasn’t expecting it. Together we searched two stores to find the right one and brought him home. Charlie was so excited to set up Santa and got right to work. Luckily I slowed down to enjoy his enthusiasm and to share his joy. Look at his smile! I love Christmas through his eyes and am thankful that he’s still youthful and innocent and enjoys every minute of this season. Thank you, Charlie for being you.

Merry Christmas!