Month: December 2015

Did I miss Christmas?

On By DGLeave a comment

 

Christmas has come and gone and I wonder if I was truly a part of it, or whether I missed the Holiday altogether.

In the days leading up to Christmas, usually my favorite part of the Holiday, I found myself conducting black ops missions in order to avoid my children’s discovery that Santa doesn’t exist. Even more so, I was executing highly tactical 007 moves so that I might be able to surprise my wife with her gifts as well. Yep, James fucking Bond- that’s me in December all whilst humming the melody to Silver Bells.

And the next thing I know it’s the morning of the 26th!!! What the hell just happened? Did I miss Christmas? I sat up in bed and thought about it for a moment. What do I remember?

  1. Christmas Eve- Platooning between office and home to hide gifts under my desk and help prep dinner (first Christmas Eve with my in-Laws so we wanted to make it special). Check….all went well!
  2. Christmas morning – Kids opened gifts and were surprised…Santa still exists! Wife was surprised too and I was very happy about my share as well. Check
  3. Started registering gifts and warranties, setting up electronics and building Legos! Check.
  4. Building Legos and drinking. Check
  5. Building Legos and drinking. Check
  6. Building Legos and drinking. Check
  7. Hoping that my wife, who’d been drinking champagne, might be thinking what I’m thinking for later – oh yeah…
  8. Building Legos and drinking. Check.
  9. Noticed everyone’s gone to sleep including my wife – No sex for Daddy….shit.
  10. Back to building Legos and drinking. Check.
  11. Watched the 2 am rerun of “A Christmas Story”. Check.

After some thought I realized that I didn’t miss Christmas at all. It occurred to me that my wife and I did exactly what my parents did to make our Christmases so special when we were kids. We ran around like freaking navy seals for two weeks in order to keep the magic of Christmas alive by fortifying the mystery of Santa for our children. We tried our best to instill the spirit of it all, spent time building and playing with them and their new instruments, all while maintaining a cozy atmosphere and inviting extra family to enjoy it all with.

As a child I remember staying up late with my father on Christmas Eve, building or assembling various toys and gadgets – even having a sip of beer when my mother wasn’t watching. Now I’m on opposite side of the spectrum, realizing that Christmas doesn’t just simply appear as it did when I was a child. It is now my wife and I who are delivering the moments that create memories our children won’t forget.

But Santa, if you really do exist and are listening, please leave out the freakin’ Legos next Christmas and just slip a “mickey” in my wife’s champagne. I’ll be a good boy until then….

 

Believing in Santa?

On By DGLeave a comment

A Christmas poem for my old friends and new;

 

As your children become older and their Christmas wishes become bolder,

The gifts stop getting taller and the packaging gets expensively smaller,

The older kids say there’s no such thing as Santa Clause, and their lack of faith gives me pause,

To think that these tiny cuties couldn’t wait to hear Santa’s Booties,

And now all they want is a fucking Ipod.

 

Thank goodness for my 5 year old daughter who gives Santa more weight than water,

Anxiously waiting to hear….those magical hooves of reindeer,

She’s a good little girl, because she knows Santa is watching all the children of the world.

And when her older siblings say, “Santa isn’t coming this way”,

She says “screw off you schmucks, I’ll be the only one with Christmas luck”.

 

Then starting to fear, the 7 year old thinks maybe he should wait and hear,

as maybe Santa is out there still, keeping the little boy in his Christmas will,

 

Witnessing her little brother’s new found faith,

our 9 year old lady says “well he did come during my eighth…”

 

And although he won’t admit it outright,

we see how our 13 year old still clings to the magic of Christmas tonight.

 

We as parents understand, that even though it’s gifts they demand,

A little Christmas spirit aided by fear and bribes, helps make their “Grinchiness” subside.

 

We hope to have enlightened our kiddies that Christmas is not about gifts and wealth,

rather more about being grateful and thankful for happiness and health.

But just to be safe we better  get that fucking Ipod….