This past week we went to the mall to see Santa. We bought the kids their Christmas jammies (one of the few traditions we’re doing this year), and signed up to for the Living Scriptures. And then I actually felt hungry so we headed for the food court. I enjoyed fried rice and an Orange Julius. Probably not the healthiest meal, but more than I’ve eaten in the last weeks combined. It felt so nice to be nourished!
By the time we were ready to visit Santa, both Joshy and Madalyn were sound asleep in our double stroller. They looked quite comical because they were both flopping precariously out of the sides of their seats. We joked that we should just push the stroller up next to Santa’s chair and snap a picture. But we resisted the urge and woke the kids up instead.
Everyone was delighted to visit Santa. They were sweet and polite and so very happy. When it was Madalyn’s turn she literally ran up to Santa and jumped into his lap. Braden was more hesitant. He wanted to go see Santa and he was even brave enough to say hello. But when I asked him if he wanted to sit on Santa’s lap, he emphatically shook his head and cried out, “No, no, no!”
As we left the mall, it began to rain heavily. Within minutes the rain turned to hail and then to snow. Our normally short drive took over an hour as we crept along through the blizzard, singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” over and over and over again.
On the way Rick and I also talked about our current circumstances. I made the offhand comment that because I actually felt “okay” for the first time in weeks and because Rick was working over Christmas anyway, we should just celebrate Christmas tonight. Rick was all for it. 
When we arrived home, our garage door wouldn’t open. It took us a moment to realize that the street lights were out and all the houses on our culd-e-sac were dark. The power was out. Rick napped on the couch while the kids and I sang Christmas songs by the fire. A neighbor, knowing that Rick works night-shift, stopped by to make sure the kids and I were okay.
Brave Josh kept marching down into the pitch black basement to retrieve toys from the playroom. It was late at night, during a power outage, and I have no idea how could even tell where he was in such darkness. Then he decided to spread a little Christmas cheer. He somehow managed to unlock the bathroom in the black basement, where all the presents were locked away. He came up the stairs with a large bag of Christmas presents over his shoulder and cried out jovially, “Merry Christmas everyone!” I quickly took the bag, timidly made my way down the dark stairs, returned the presents to the bathroom, and locked the door again. It was so black down there that I was confident he hadn’t seen any presents. And I was even more amazed that he could find his way down there and that he was able to unlock the bathroom without being able to see. We all had a good laugh over this.
After 1.5 hours of sitting in the dark, the lights came blazing on again.
While the kids got in their jammies and Rick tidied the kitchen, I retreated downstairs and hastily wrapped the Christmas presents. We made an emergency call to Santa, who was still at the mall and was gracious enough to drop the kids’ presents by early.
The kids waited and wiggled in their beds while Santa dropped everything off and I stuffed all the other presents under the tree. As soon as Santa’s sleigh was out of sight, we let the kids our of their room.
We turned on Christmas music, started another fire, and had a wonderful evening. The kids were bouncing with excitement and I felt good enough to enjoy their enthusiasm. We insisted that the presents be opened slowly, just as we do every year, and took time to play with each one before opening the next. The kids were delighted with each gift and Rick announced at the end that we’d once again nailed every single present.
We had a fairly simple Christmas as far as presents go… We got a few games and movies as group gifts. Brenna got a “grow” puppy, a set of American Girl chapter books, and some new outfits for her dolls. Joshua got Magnetix, a phonics video game, and a Spiderman duplo blocks set. Madalyn got Strawberry Shortcake, a pink sleeping bag, and an electronic keyboard. Braden got a bead set (the kind commonly found in a doctor’s office), FP Little People Barnyard, and an animal puzzle. They also each got Christmas jammies, a fun shampoo set, and several stocking stuffers. And we did keep our “Christmas book” tradition, buying a children’s book for each child that reminded us specifically of him or her during this past year. This is one of my personal favorite traditions and I couldn’t let it go this year. We always manage to find books that remind us exactly of each specific child.
Around 11pm, when the presents were all opened, we made hot chocolate and popped our Jiffy pop (a gift from Santa). The kids were all delighted by the foil on top as it expanded. We talked and giggled as we munched our popcorn and sipped our hot chocolate. I was starting for feel really yucky so I curled up on the couch. Rick and the kids played “Pass the Pigs,” a new game we’d gotten for Christmas. Sometime after midnight Rick put all of us to bed.
This year we didn’t make gingerbread houses or decorate sugar cookies like we usually do. We didn’t deliver treats to our neighbors, or host a family party. We didn’t sing carols, take a hayride, or visit the local light display. We didn’t make holiday crafts, we didn’t send out Christmas cards. We didn’t sprinkle glitter and oats on our front lawn to attract the reigndeer and give them a snack once they arrive. We didn’t even celebrate Christmas on Christmas morning. We missed so much this year.
Anyone who knows me knows that I go “all out” on every holiday, including April Fool’s Day and other “small” holidays. So giving up many of our traditions this year is very hard for me to do.
But we did talk about the true meaning of Christmas for family night and we did greatly enjoy our time together as a family. I feel badly about everything that we always do- everything that we “missed” this year. But honestly, just by being together, we still had a great Christmas.
