Celebrating a quieter holiday season
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- January 1, 2024
- 320
For those parents with young children, Christmas Day also is Early Rising Day.
Growing up, my siblings and I were up at the crack of dawn, if not before, and ready to race downstairs. We knew Santa had come and our presents were just waiting to be opened.
Our parents were not quite as excited to get out of bed that early. They, of course, had been up late the night before helping Santa to put those presents under the tree. They would finally get up and lead the way downstairs, get comfortable in their chairs, and then allow us, their extremely excited children, to enter the living room and see what Santa had left for them. Santa usually brought us the gifts we had asked for in our letters to him.
However, sometimes there were disappointments. My brother asked for a horse one year and got a bike instead. He was so sad. But he kept the bike when I offered to take it. One year I got a sled, and a sister insisted that sled was meant for her. She didn’t get it.
The holidays are such a happy time for children and their parents. Our houses also get happy when they are decorated and strewn with boughs of holly and strings of lights. A light snow fell on Christmas Day one year. Our children were thrilled, though Taller Half wasn’t. He got a bit grumpy when he had to shovel the walkway, but a big piece of fruitcake and a glass of good cheer restored his good humor.
Because our children are grown and now live on their own, our Christmases are much quieter but just as happy. We get to sleep later on Christmas morning now and have a lovely breakfast before our children arrive with our beautiful grandchildren. They bring a few
of their favorite gifts to show us. It’s all done while sitting comfortably in our living room.
After gifts are opened, we pack up, and all head over to the closest child’s house to enjoy a lovely dinner our children have prepared. All we’ve had to do is welcome and hug our children and grandchildren, open some lovely gifts, and enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner we didn’t have to prepare. Christmases just get better and better every year.
I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and here’s wishing everyone a happy New Year.