If you’ll pardon the cliché…it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! I have not been feeling the Christmas spirit or whatever you want to call it at all this year. I have felt no great desire to decorate or bake or listen to Christmas music. And yet, with a 4 year old who is growing very excited about Christmas, well, I have had no choice but to fake it! (I cannot believe I just revealed that secret!)

We’ve put out our decorations around the house and we have put lights up outside. Mark and the boys picked out and bought our Christmas tree on Sunday. It is a beautiful tree. They did a fabulous job! On Monday, I put the lights on the tree and Andrew put the ornaments on the tree. (Jay had no interest in putting his or any ornaments on the tree.) It is the most adorable clumping of ornaments I have ever seen. All of his and Jay’s ornaments are hanging on the lowest branches. There is a specific cluster that faces the fireplace. Andrew remarked that he put those specific ornaments there so that Santa will see them as soon as he comes down our chimney! How cute is that?

Yesterday, we baked some cookies. We made Spritz (which were always my favorite growing up) and chocolate chip cookies. Now, I’d be lying if I said the boys were a huge help. But, they were very cute in their excitement about making cookies for Santa. Well, Andrew is looking forward to leaving some out for Santa. Jay just wants to eat them now! Forget what’s-his-face.

We made cinnamon ornaments last week. And we have been listening to Christmas music, namely John Denver and the Muppets and the albums my brother Mike made in 2000 and 2001.


All of this combined has made our house look, smell and feel Christmas-y. Yet, I still don’t feel it. It all seems kind of like a giant to-do list of things I must do to make sure this Christmas is special for Andrew & Jay. And I guess that’s what it means to be Mommy. Your job is to make Christmas special for your children. And if I can only do that half as well as my Mom did, well then I’ll be glad.

As I do each of these tasks on my Christmas to-do list: I can’t help but reminisce about the Christmases of my childhood. My mother always made our house look so nice. She would pick out special craft ornaments for us to do each year and it is fun to look back at those now remembering sitting at the kitchen table with my brothers designing them. I have hung eucalyptus on my front door because my mother always had a eucalyptus wreath on our front door. Every time I open my storm door and smell it, I am reminded of my mother. Baking cookies, reminded me of the cookie tins that were always filled with our favorite cookies. I realize now that my mother must have made several trips to the grocery store for more eggs, sugar and butter to make sure when we got home from school that there would be cookies in the tins. I don’t know when she made them…I just know they were always there. Thanks, Mom! Thanks for these warm memories. I hope Andrew & Jay will be able to think back on their childhood Christmases with similar affection.

I will say there is one thing that I have really been enjoying this Christmas season. And that is Andrew’s ability to patiently open one door each day on the Advent calendar. My parents gave us a beautiful Advent calendar that they picked up on their recent trip to Germany. Andrew has been very good about only opening the specific door for today and no others. He is eager each morning and asks Mark or me “what number is today?” I’ve been impressed with his ability to find the numbers on his own and open the doors himself. He seems to thoroughly enjoy finding out what picture is waiting behind the door. I cannot believe the self-control he has shown with this. It makes me happy. Like everything else, Jay is oblivious to the calendar. He likes to look at the picture if Andrew shows it to him…but, I don’t think the calendar is even registering on his radar screen.

Along with his enjoyment of the advent calendar, I’ve enjoyed watching how Andrew can appreciate the special prayers we say each night at dinnertime when I light the candles in our advent wreath. Andrew closes his eyes and folds his hands in front of his face. It makes me feel very warm and content inside. He and Jay have been offering grace before our meals for a couple months now. Usually, they say “Thank you for this family. Amen.” Sometimes, they will add a thank you for an activity or toy. But, the other night, Andrew said “Thank you for my family and thank you for God. Amen.” Now, I realize these are just words to him…but, I found I was bowled over by it. After all isn’t that the message of Advent and Christmas? I love it.

Merry Christmas!