Within each stage of our family Christmas has changed. The first few years we were married we were poor college students and only had a few humble presents under the tree. As our family grew, Christmas became filled with anticipation and excitement for Santa to come. We were so excited, our first Christmas as parents we couldn’t wait to see our daughters reactions to the tree, lights, Santa and presents. She was crawling at the time and only cared about taking the bows from the packages and playing with them. It was wonderful.
As each Christmas approached quicker than the year before we looked forward to surprising the kids with the things they asked Santa for. I have fond memories of Holly getting her Polly Pockets and playing for hours, Harrison embracing for years his Chocolate Puppy and Marissa finally getting her giant teddy bear after waiting two years.
Just because we were adults with children didn’t mean we weren’t 10 years old on the inside wanting our own toys. So one year Santa brought Mom and Dad huge Nerf guns. Our surprise attack was met with many squeals. That was the first year of our Nerf wars. We even got Grandma involved when she visited.
A Christmas that is close to my heart is the year we made gifts for everyone. Our year had been met with many changes and it just didn’t seem appropriate to fill our tree with retail purchases. So we spent months pondering, planning and making the special gift we knew would be loved. At times the house was quiet as each of us were stowed away to secret places to make these special gifts. Sitting around our tree that Christmas morning sharing our love and talents with one another brought a spirit of giving that we had not experienced before.
Now that the kids are married and have new families Sean and I have found ourselves celebrating Christmas alone. Meaning we spent most of the day on the phone with them and even propped up our phones at the table during dinner. While we weren’t together physically we felt them and our Christmas was not sad or depressing, rather filled with fun new memories.
This year was different from all the others. We are in a different state, in a different home, and having different experiences. We are here with our daughter, but she is grown, married and a mommy. She isn’t our little girl that can’t wait for Santa to come. Instead, we are celebrating this season as grandparents and watching our grandson be amazed by the twinkling lights, hearing the Christmas stories for the first time, and listening to lots and lots of Christmas music. His face would light up as we sang and he loved Christmas movies that had lots of singing.
Christmas was different this year, but so wonderful. We decorated together, baked together, meshed traditions and shared in watching our grandson discovering how to rip wrapping paper. To his amazement beneath that paper that there was a toy just for him. The blocks were a hit.
Sitting on the floor Christmas morning with my sweetheart, our daughter, son in-law and grandson I felt so blessed. I know it's not about the gifts, but the ultimate Gift. The gift of the birth of Jesus Christ and His life. The gift of the restored gospel. The gift of eternal families. The gift of three wonderful children when I love and admire. The gift to live with family and be part of our grandson’s life every day.
I am looking forward to many more Christmases, watching our daughters' family grow and be part of those wonderful Christmas surprises we so enjoyed as parents.
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