I Experienced Christmas As A Parent And It Was Nothing Short Of Amazing
When I was growing up, Christmas was always such a special time of year for me. My parents did a really incredible job of keeping the magic alive. Believing in Santa, enjoying Christmas music and movies, and taking in all the fun decorations were just a few of the memories I will never forget.
Believing in Santa is such a pure and simple joy. There’s nothing quite like believing in magic. When you discover the truth, it can be a little disheartening. Suddenly, the magic is gone. That doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the holiday, though. There’s plenty of magic all over without the belief in the man in the red suit.
No matter when you stop believing, there’s usually a significant amount of time between when you learn the truth and when you get to play Santa for your own child. For me, it was about twenty years before I could bring the magic of Santa alive to my son.
This past Christmas, my son was just over one year old. It wasn’t his first Christmas, but it was his first time having at least a vague understanding of what was going on. His first Christmas he was just one month old. I was on maternity leave, so we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on him. That was okay, because he wouldn’t have really understood it anyway. But this year was different.
This year, my husband and I were able to provide my son with a very special Christmas. He’s still too young to understand the whole concept, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t get to enjoy it all.
We set up our tree to look beautiful with all the gifts. We actually had quite a few, mostly because my family lives far away, so they sent us gifts for my son. There were plenty of presents beneath the tree. And, for his special gift, we got him a play house, one he had seen on TV once and had a reaction to (not common for a boy less than a year old).
My husband stayed up until 2:30 a.m. getting it set up. We laid everything out perfectly, at least in my opinion.
On Christmas morning, I went to the living room and started a video. When I was ready, my husband opened the door and our son came out. When we saw the house, he was filled with pure joy. Thank God I took a video, because I want to relive that moment as often as I can.
He was so happy and excited. We could barely get him to check out the rest of his gifts! He was checking everything out all day long.
It was probably the first time he had ever shown such elation for something. This was the first big toy he had ever gotten, and he was so excited about it. He was making noises and talking in a manner I hadn’t heard before.
All day, I was reveling in the joy of providing my son with the magic I remember experiencing as a child. It got me thinking. This was my first Christmas playing Santa and getting to watch my son’s pure joy of it all. Considering my husband and I want to have at least two more children, I guesstimate that we can enjoy Christmases like this for at least the next twelve years.
How exciting is that? The magic is back in my life. I’m surprised to find that it’s even better than believing in Santa Claus. I get to be Santa Claus. I get to watch my children experience that magic. There’s no greater feeling.
