A few weeks ago there was a sole Christmas present under our tree. It was wrapped in gold shiny paper with a pretty red bow, and all that it said on it was, “Hudson.” I had seen him eyeing it for a while. He would sit beneath the tree and thread his finger in and out of the bow, hoping… just hoping, that he would pull a little bit too hard. On accident, of course. He was hoping that it might just fall open on its own. Until one day he couldn’t take it anymore. Luckily, I saw his eyes bulge out and his anticipation get the best of him, and his fingers decide to rip into the gift with reckless abandon. I stopped him right before any damage was done.
I swooped up his precious little body, and tried my best to explain to him the magic of Christmas. I sat him on the edge of the dining room table and told him that there isn’t a gift in the world that could take the place of his friends and family, and as hard as it might feel right now, it is really important to wait until our family is here to open his holiday gifts. I did the best that I could to teach him right then and there that Santa Clause not only comes through our chimney on Christmas Eve, but that he also lives inside of his heart, and the hearts of each one of us. And just as he began to squirm to want to get down, I told him that if he opened that gift without the person who gave it to him in the room then all of the magic would be lost. Because it is the magic of a family’s love that makes Christmas so special.
He returned the gift to its home underneath the tree, and hasn’t picked it up since. I don’t know if it was the fact that he wanted my lecture to be over with, or if he really ‘got it,’ but either way… I know that something sunk in that day.
Wishing all of you, and your families, a very happy holiday season!! And may the magic of this holiday season be present in each of your homes!!
Holiday card and custom stamp design by ShePaperie :: Holiday photos taken by Natalie Ann Photography
