It is Christmas. Our day began a little bit earlier than I would have liked, but also a little bit later than I had expected. With our children growing older, we are finally able to celebrate Christmas the way I remember it as a child – a day of rising early and trembling with anticipation, hoping, just hoping, that the toy you wanted most is there, waiting under the tree. Christmas is a great time to be a father, to enjoy the children squealing with excitement, joy and gratitude. I was thrilled to hear my children suggest that “mommy and daddy should open presents first this year since they take such good care of us.”
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Because the children are only now coming to that age where they really appreciate Christmas, we are only just beginning to create some family Christmas traditions. To this point our traditions have been derived from a combination of how my family celebrated and how Aileen’s family celebrated. Neither family made Christmas into a distinctly religious occasion, so such an emphasis does not come naturally to either one of us. We are still not sure how much we will emphasize Christmas as Jesus’ birthday and how much we’ll just emphasize family, giving, gratitude, and so on. We’re uncertain if the day will revolve around the birth of Jesus or around Christian virtues. I suppose we’ll just have to see how the day evolves as time goes on.
After spending a good bit of my morning building Lego spaceships, assembling Playmobil garden centers, and cleaning up scattered bits of plastic and wrapping paper, Aileen and I were able to turn our attention to dinner. We got our Presbyterian Turkey all prepped and ready to go (we consider it Presbyterian and certainly not Baptist after we poured a half a bottle of sherry into its body cavity), the potatoes peeled and the table set. Now we’re just waiting for my in-laws to arrive in an hour or two. Already it has been a wonderful Christmas. I suspect it will get better still.
So from me to you, and from my family to yours, have a safe and wonderful and blessed Christmas Day.