Do you believe in magic?

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

There is something so utterly magical about getting to experience Christmas once you have children of your own. It brings back all of your own happy childhood Christmas memories, but in a whole new light. I see the way my kids eyes light up instantly when they talk about Santa, when they prance around our lit-up Christmas tree, when we make a Christmas craft or read a Christmas book. I can feel the magic there--I can remember believing in something that didn't make any sense just because believing was the best feeling in the whole world.

Most people don't know this, but I believed in Santa for a long time. Far, far longer than I should have. When my sister and I finally staged a scheme to out the Tooth Fairy (aka: we stayed up all night to catch my mom in the act, lol), and the truth came out about Santa and the Easter Bunny, well, if I'm remembering right we were nearly 12 years old. Yes--TWELVE. I remember running to tell my best friend the news and her saying to me, "Yeah, I know. We've all known for a long time, we just didn't want to tell you guys. You just kept believing in him for so long!" Come to find out that even her youngest brother who was probably 5 at the time knew that the big guy in the red suit was a fairytale. But mostly I remember how every Christmas after that just sort of lost its luster. The magic, for me, was gone.

But this year? It's back. The magic has returned in all of its glory and it's making me feel like a kid again. I have two wonderful children who are finally both old enough to relish this magic, this wonder, this excitement. Children who want the tree lit from dawn until bedtime, who love doing crafts and singing Christmas songs and, of course, talking about their lists! Children who are learning the true meaning of Christmas, the joy in giving to others (although I really might go broke this season as both kids INSIST on donating something to every Salvation Army bucket we see, lol), and celebrating the birthday of Jesus. While this particular aspect of Christmas is not something that I personally believe in any more, I am definitely teaching it to them--they have a right to know the Christmas story and decide for themselves one day if they believe it in their hearts to be true.

One thing is for certain, whatever you celebrate this holiday season, be it Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa (or Festivus! A Festivus for the rest of us! lol), make it magical. I hope your heart is filled with the spirit of the season, the warmth of family, the joy of giving, and the miracle of life. I wish you blessings so many that you can't possibly count them all. I know I definitely can't even begin to count mine. :)

PS--We were listening to Christmas music in the car the other day and an instrumental version of "Oh Holy Night" came on and Aiden said, "Mom, this song just makes my heart feel so big, like it can't get any bigger or it might burst!" I know the feeling kid, I know the feeling:)