Dear Reader:

I hope for you that your memories of opening up Santa and other presents are ones of complete chaos…that you remember opening and opening and then there came another slew of gifts from more family & friends arriving…For a child it is like being caught up in a wonderful dream that just keeps on going…even when you pinch yourself.

I overheard John telling Mandy Christmas morning that they would just let all the children keep playing amid open packages, torn wrappings, and ribbons. No big outdoor lawn bags would be brought in yet. The “magic” of Christmas is made magic by children seeing their parents relaxed, happy, not cleaning up and breaking the “spell” of sheer exhilaration.

For 364 days of the year, children hear….”Now share that with your brother or sister, take your turn, save a biscuit for your dad, half the last oreo cookie in two,  or let your brother take his turn riding the bike now.” This is familiar territory but to wake up one day and feel like Disney World came to your house, along with Santa Claus ….that is sheer magic.

The calm before the storm. Walsh sent this picture out after he and Mollie left my house Christmas Eve… (where the family had gathered following the Christmas Eve Service.) They had gotten the boys to sleep and  decorated for “Santa.” Walsh emailed and said that  the “magic” was ready.

Even through my adult eyes…the magic was palpable.

When we studied the Native-Americans in my eighth grade class…one of the Northwestern tribes (I remember teaching about it but forgot the name of the tribe) held a ceremony called The Potlatch Ceremony. One of the tribesman would take all his possessions before the tribe and give away everything he owned to date….only to start collecting more possessions to give away again. It was a way of letting the others know how wealthy he was…a type of a bragging rights ceremony…with the benefits going to others.

We have talked a lot in the blog about the freedom of simplicity and learning to live ‘minimally’ …and it is all good. But, I think, every child, around the world, deserves one day or simply one time in their life to watch their parents break all the rules…to leave the dreaded garbage bags in the kitchen drawer just a little longer while allowing the ‘chaos’ of Christmas to remain in its cluttered state.

( Kaitlyn’s t-shirt message combines the best of two worlds…simplicity and caring)

*One reason for prolonging Christmas chaos is to teach us adults what the children finally settle on among all the big and popular items we bought for them….they love the wrapping paper and empty boxes. From eighteen months down…chewing on ribbons and crunching up wrapping paper… making it snap, crackle, pop is the most popular diversion…while slightly older children prefer playing in the empty boxes. It never fails to happen. Case in point!

After the children opened everything and tried out a few new toys…they soon gravitated right back to their old, pre-Christmas toys or activities…finally settling in with squealing and playing with each other…toys aren’t fun alone. An important lesson to learn!

* Mandy kept telling me to open my present from her…but it was wrapped so beautifully I couldn’t bring myself to tear it open. (worth all the parent plus loans for her to get a degree in art education from Georgia Southern.)

P.S. Just opened it and my oh my….I am completely spoiled…thank you “Eva Cate” and “Jakie.”

So until tomorrow…Let us all have the chance to experience in our life, at least one time, an over-abundance of any or everything….so we can feel that all-encompassing feeling of sheer happiness  before recognizing the fact that friends and family and God provide the constant joy and friendship we need.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• *Honey and Mike returned to their mountain home after Christmas and upon looking out on the view from their deck…she texted me this morning with this photo message: “This is where I find God.”
• *Walsh and Mollie can always tell Rutledge of the El Nino Christmas with temps in the 80’s…so warm that the family could go the beach the day after Christmas and Rutledge got to ride the waves…quite an “historical” feat!
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