Tomorrow the whole family is coming over. I don't come from a Christian family. In fact, I only came to Christ a few years ago. But nevertheless, Christmas Day has always been a big deal to us. For my relatives, it symbolizes a new year and a new start for frayed relationships. We all get together, and trade gifts, forgiving and forgetting all the strife of the past year. Sure, the men will fight, I guarantee it. But they'll make up by the end of the party, and every wound will be symbolically mended for the coming year, and we'll all be together and love will surround us like a wreath.
We are hosting the party on Christmas Day, so that meant cleaning the whole house from top to bottom. We got everything done. And I couldn't have done it all without my fabulous daughter, who scrubbed out the bathtub and organized the kitchen beautifully, so that I could do the other lighter tasks.
Once the house was clean, I had her write her letter to Santa. Yeah, she's seventeen. So what? It's fun, and it's tradition! She left out Danish Butter Cookies and goat milk for Santa (He's lactose intolerant, and the goat milk will be tastier than the reindeer milk he's usually stuck with at the North Pole- lol).
After that, I brought her into the living room and she got to pick out one present to open. She is so humble. She picked a small, thin one. It was a set of gold leaf type letters that you can transfer onto other things to decorate or personalize them.
Then, I tucked her in bed like I used to when she was small, and I told her a Christmas story. We have "series" of stories with characters that I made up many years ago, and each story picks up maybe a short time after the last one left off. Tonight was the holiday episode of The Evergreen Forest. Tonight, all the animals that she's grown up with were going to a cotillion at Lady Tortoise's mansion (her shell). To stay warm, the animals had dug out ice tunnels under the snow, that led to each other's houses and throughout the forest. Tonight two characters danced together for the first time in the ballroom. She smiled through it all. Then I sang her some Christmas carols, and she joined in.
I went to my room and pulled up the blankets (that's where I am now), and I sang her another song. I then promised that even when she's twenty-five or fifty and married, she will still open presents from "Santa" and I will still tell her stories and sing her songs on Christmas Eve.
Then, just for fun, I went on YouTube and found sleighbell and Santa sound effects and played them with the volume up. And in a silly/serious voice I called out in a loud whisper, "Oh no! Do you hear that? Santa's here! Quick! Tuck down on your pillow and pretend to be asleep!" The sound effects continued. It sounded like someone was walking around the house. It was great.
Well, I'm about to take my rest. Good Night. Dream of sugar plums.
Merry Christmas everyone. And a Happy New Year!
