Sometimes throughout the year, especially on very stressful days, you wonder if it's even worth all the stress, tears, sweat, headaches, etc. Raising kids is not exactly a cake job, like some may think. There are times when you are at your limit or even get pushed over your limit that you think selling your children on the black market sounds like a pretty good idea. At times like this, you wonder how Santa could even begin to see the good in your kids. Most of the time right after they upset you, they redeem themselves and melt your heart all over again.
Then there are days like yesterday, Christmas Day, when you can see the world through the eyes of a child. Everything is so much simpler than what our adult minds can even begin to comprehend. As Santa gets out and puts together his gifts, the anticipation builds. Now that I'm a parent, I wonder if it's more exciting being on the giving end then when I was little getting the gifts. My husband and I were both awake before the kids, waiting, waiting, waiting for someone to notice what Santa had done. Finally, the sweet pay off. We hear the foot steps running down the hall as our oldest bursts in our room "MOM, DAD, Santa Came, Santa Came!!!" Before she could run back out and start getting into the presents, we remind her to go wake up her sister, who then comes groggily into our room totally confused, until she makes her way into the living room. There is something about Christmas Day that just make children glow. As I heard, I think on a commercial, "Christmas is the time where parents become more like children, and children become more like angels." I couldn't have said it better myself. Even if the day is mostly filled with chaos of flying paper and a mess of toys, it is also filled with the joy and laughter of children. This holiday is truly for the kids! I don't care how "commercialized" people say Christmas has gotten, when you see your little ones faces light up and stay glowing all day, you forget about everything. Even if little petty bickering breaks out over "she took my toy" it seems hard to phase you when everything seems so close to perfect. Not to mention you tell them, "You have a living room full of toys, there's no need to fight over one," and then they realize "Oh Yeah, I wanted to play with this other thing anyway."
Even as I sit here in the day after Christmas hang over, the kids are still just as excited and happy as they were yesterday. They've only begun to explore the spoils from yesterday. You can't help but laugh when you get told that they are too busy playing and don't want breakfast. I think also, days like this go a lot easier when the living room is already a mess of toys that you don't care if they just play in all day. No stress, no worry, just relaxation knowing the house is already a mess and it's supposed to be this way!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got to experience the "glow" for themselves!!!
