Christmas with Kids

I find Christmas to be depressing. It is better now that I have Dan to share it with, but really, I just want to go to bed mid-November and re-emerge when the whole hullabaloo is over.

It's different with little kids, though -- it is better. You see the magic through their eyes. I normally do a Christmas tree ($20 from IKEA!) to try to lift my spirits, but when Francis came home and saw the tree, his eyes lit up. "Thanks, Mom!", he gushed sincerely. "It's beautiful!". Wow. More of that, please.

"Is it Christmas yet?", Francis asks daily. "Is it Christmas now?" We started the Advent Calendar last year as it occured to me it was a fun way to learn numbers. Even this year, it's taken a while for Francis to cotton onto the concept, as he wants to open ALL the boxes AT ONCE. (That the anticipation is part of the fun is a bit beyond him yet). He has a Playmobil calendar, which, although highly chokeable from Stella's point of view, has the advantage that it is not candy. (Francis has definitely inherited his mother's sweet tooth). Of course, I should be more AP and make my own Advent Calendar (check out the creativity over on SouleMama!), but alas, I wimped out.


We got pictures with Santa this year -- Francis was not as freaked out as last year, perhaps because he wanted to be sure that Santa knew what he wanted. (He's a good little consumer, our kid). Stella was completely nonplussed -- she was happy sitting on Santa's lap and checking out the fur trim on his suit. Francis has a two page wish-list of the loot he wants (any suggestions as to how to counteract the gimme's? ) -- Stella really just wants a lot of shiny, crinkly paper.