I want to believe in Father Christmas again.
Despite the tinsle-tinged nightmare that is a shopping mall in December, the nauseating Boney-M songs or the incessant Christmas-special adverts which constitute the reality of my festive season, I still remember the innocence of a time when I truly and sincerely believed in The Magic of Christmas. The frosted stars and mirrored balls we hung on our tree, the smell of cinnamon in the cookies we baked and the excitement of trying to go to sleep ahead of the single most exciting morning of the year. These memories mean far more to me now than any of the gifts which lay wrapped under the tree on Christmas morning.
There is nothing like the innocence of my own children to remind me of the wonderful sense of anticipation which is supposed to start building at this time of the year. While my wife and I start to make all the necessary adult arrangements – shopping, family, food, gifts – our children cheerfully get stuck into the nuts and bolts of their Christmas planning.
Little Christmas Elves
First and foremost is the ‘Christmas List’ for Santa. We were taught by our own parents that Christmas is a time for giving, something we make the effort to impress on our own children, but the ‘making of the wish-list’ really gets their juices flowing. Each list is a carefully-produced piece of art, beautifully detailed and specific, containing a wide range of gifts varying from cheap and cheerful to completely unaffordable. I am not sure that ‘Hair Clips’ and a ‘Nintendo Wii’ have appeared together on anyone’s Christmas list before but at least it offers us a cheaper option when it comes to presents.
The Hit List
Once the list has been completed and handed in together with detailed instructions on it’s secure delivery to Father Christmas, it is vitally important for the kids to count down the ‘sleeps’ to the Big Day. The most exciting way to do this by far is with an Advent Calendar, preferably one containing a cheap chocolate behind each little cardboard door. As parents who try not to sweat the small stuff, we are used to a quick sugar-rush in both our kids around 06hb00 every day for twenty-four days in December – we just don’t have the heart to make them wait until a more appropriate time in the day to pry their calendars open.
As the month progresses, the Christmas Cheer in our house notches up one level at a time with two very busy Christmas Elves hard at work – over-decorating the Tree, baking cookies, draping pets in festive bunting, Christmas stockings hung expectantly on doors and Santa hats plopped on heads. When the Big Day does finally arrive, it passes in a flurry of laughs, gifts, thanks and love and leaves us all satiated with that warm, fuzzy feeling which can only come from happy children.
An Angel in the Tree
Children just believe in Christmas. They immerse themselves in the fairytale and enjoy it for what it is – a happy, exciting time filled with family and fun (and at least one or two presents). As adults, the magic of our Christmas is to appreciate our children – how they cherish this special time, creating lasting memories of their own and we would do well to enjoy this most precious of gifts while they are still innocent enough to offer it to us.
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