Christmas time

The Christmas season has always been one of my favorites. There is something that is almost magical about listening to Christmas music while the snow is gracefully falling outside, blanketing everything with a promise of new life to start when it is gone. Turning what was dead to a white cover that in the spring time would yield new life.
I can remember when i was little, christmas was like speed to me.. I always seemed to have a hard time falling asleep and was never really aware that i had fallen asleep until i woke up the next morning, and bounded down the stairs in anticipation of the piles and piles of gifts that were left under the tree by Santa and of course Mom and
Dad. I can remember Mom and Dad letting us do our stockings when we first got up, but we had to wait until after breakfast to do the presents.And of course it is hard for a little kid who is excited to think of anything else other than opening presents, let alone eating breakfast. there was this friend of my parents who used to always bring us over a fruitcake on Christmas too. it was actually pretty good.
I can remember one Christmas when my brother and i decided that we were going to wait up so that we could see Santa. once we thought that mom and dad had gone to bed, Tyler and i snuck out on the hardwood landing that overlooked the living, hoping to sneak a glimpse of Santa and to our dismay, it was not Santa that we saw, but Mom and Dad..
I can remember another Christmas when i was young, we were opening presents and there was this one present. it was a piece of metal piping in a box. my brother looked all confused and i did too for a moment. and then i realized what it was and jumped up. i ran to the edge of the livingroom and opened the door and there stood a firemans pole going to the basement. and there was also an inflatable dinosaur in there... it was a great Christmas.
There was one Christmas that i got a dollhouse that my dad and brother had made for me and now that i have a little girl, i gave it to her for Christmas last year and she has loved playing with it.
Now that i have my own family, i have started to make new traditions that are right for us. such as decorating the tree on our daughters birthday.... two days before christmas, and of course there is all of the shopping and wrapping of the presents. Even amidst all of the hustle and bustle, we still find time to visit family that has been a distant thought until this season. it really is the season where even the most selfish of people put aside there feelings and for once think about someone else, even if it is only short-lived.
Christmas has a new meaning to me. my daughter was born on december 23rd and has made it even more special for me. i now get to shop for her at christmas and watch her open her presents with such excitement that it takes me back to being a little girl again. She reminds me that even now, there is still that excited little girl in me at christmas and that is something that i hope never dies... Merry Christmas to all!!!