Happy Max with Santa
'Tis the night after Christmas and all through the house.... there are messes and disorder ---I feel like a louse. I plan every year with efficiency and care-- in hopes that when St. Nicholas takes to the air --that I will be snuggled down deep in my bed, and visions of peace will fill my head.
But it seems I move slower as evening wears on and I've just shut my eyes when Christmas morn dawns. I smile as they gasp with surprise and tear into packages of bargain buys, but I'm weary and I wonder how Mother carried out---seamless events without room for doubt --Santa was real, he was very consistent, but in our home even Tooth Fairy is resistant... to discipline and order, traditions galore --what if I can't pull off two decades more?
Santa brought Millie a Cabbage Patch doll, Sam a new "Rusty"dog better than all---the stuffed pets he cares for--and he's got plenty. He mentioned in fact that they numbered beyond twenty! Max loves his new cars, puzzles, and Jammie's --Abbie is crafting, changing outfits and hamming-- it up in front of the mirror, and Zach's decked out in all BYU gear.
Christmas Eve Jammies
So why more toys and clothing and such? Why give more when we've already so much?
I guess because children grow out of their clothes, and toys wear out and dolls lose their bows. Maybe the real reason we give --is so that each of these people we're raising will live --knowing they're loved, knowing we care... even if their parents are showing the wear... of sixteen Christmases come and gone, of sleepless nights and post-worry dawns.
It's different as Mama than it was as the child. I miss the suspense and being exiled---from areas of Mom's secret wrapping, the freedom from budget and energy-zapping---shopping and planning, stewing and fretting; Each Christmas I plan to do less forgetting --of where I've hidden this bag and that, and yet every year I do just that...
Cast picture at Joseph Smith's Birthday Party @ Grandma Wells'
But when I let Christmas' magic sink in...I'm grateful for the miracle of these kids and kin --glad that I have them, glad to be married, glad to be busy and often carried ---over rough spots, trials and cares--for they are proof that Christ is ever there---to lift and to lighten, to teach and release --- all grown-up burdens, for He is real PEACE.
Our Christmas box
