Alyice on December 15th, 2008

Thanks For The Xmas Memories

When children are young, they yearn to get their hands dirty. They want to try new things, they want to build things, they want to take things apart, they want to make things, and they want to explore the world. It’s such a fun and amazing time, isn’t it?

When my children were little, every holiday seemed more magical because of them. We sang holiday songs, watched holiday movies, decorated the house, and made yearly ornaments and/or holiday cookies—together. And the best part was that they were excited and thrilled to do those things!

Oh, how I miss those times.

Now that my kids are older and have lost their child-like innocence, the holidays just don’t seem as magical. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the holidays; just that I wasn’t ready for them to grow up so darn fast! Why can’t we keep them young longer?

I remember the year “The Santa Clause”, starring Tim Allen, came out. It was the year my son began to question Santa’s immortality. We had always explained to the kids that Santa had many helpers—helpers who made it possible for him to deliver billions of Christmas presents around the world in a single night. Now, we had an explanation for Santa’s immortality—when he died, a new Santa took his place. We watched it every year, for the next five years.

One year, while living in California, we even went as far as to invite the neighbor’s kids over. We turned the air conditioner on so that it felt like we were camping out in the snow. We turned off all the lights, wrapped ourselves in blankets, and sipped hot cocoa while eating warm popcorn as we watched the movie. The kids thought it was the “coolest” thing.

And when they were little, every year we’d freeze baking soda. Then right before the kids were woken up to find Santa’s been at our home, my husband and I would grab our Santa feet and reindeer hoof templates. We’d place the templates on the floor, poor the baking soda into the templates and make a path from where Santa entered the house to where Santa delivered the presents to where Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk to where Santa took a sneak peek into the kids bedrooms and left a present on their dressers to where Santa finally left our home. The kids would wake up and touch the white powder and scream, “Santa’s been here! Look at the snow he left behind.” And of course, the reindeer would make their way to the carrots we left them, then back out of the house they’d go.

And one year, when my daughter had her doubts, my husband dressed up as Santa Claus then stood close to the front door as he jingled his bells and said, “Ho! Ho! Ho!” as loudly as he could. My daughter got up just in time to see Santa leaving. She talked about that experience for years.

While these memories cannot be displayed each year, they will remain in our hearts forever and through remembrance tools like family photos and Christmas ornaments, such as the ones you see below, we can relive those memories.

Give thanks…

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AlyiceEdrich.com
I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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