Kate was only about 4 months old when her first Christmas rolled around back in 1994, so I can't remember if I did this that year or not or if it was her second Christmas that we started doing this, but every year, I spend the night at my sister's on Christmas Eve. Kate is now 13 and Grace is 8, so it's been going on for a really long time. It's just tradition and they start asking in early November every year if I'm going to spend the night there on Christmas Eve. I always act like it's a big decision because I want to see what they say, but truthfully, there is nowhere else I'd rather be! If they didn't ask, I'd be disappointed!
Here's my story:
My sister called me last Saturday and asked if I could come get the girls and take them out for a little while that afternoon so she could get all their stuff out and be sure things were 'even.' Of course, I jump at the chance to do that any time she asks, so we went to Blockbuster, Books a Million, Target, then Starbucks. All was well. My sister had things just as she had hoped. I stayed at their house for dinner then left to come home and start wrapping their stuff for Christmas.
While we were out that afternoon/early evening, Grace was talking about the things she wanted for Christmas, what she'd told Santa, etc, just excited about the holiday. After a few minutes, I said, 'Grace, I know you're looking forward to all that, but you know what Christmas is really all about, right?' Her response, 'It's about spending time with friends and family and being nice.' Well, I had to giggle because she KNOWS that Christmas is about Jesus' birth. They go to church and she's heard the story since she was little, I guess just in the moment of me asking, that was what came out of her mouth. I said, 'It is about those things sort of, but it's really about it being Jesus' birthday and that's what we need to remember.' We talked about that for a bit then moved on to other things.
I went to our Vespers Service on Monday evening, after that, to some friends' house for a little while, then I left there to come home, gather clothes and gifts and head over to my sister's. I had been there about an hour or so and my sister discovered that she needed more eggs (she was having about 15 people at her house for Christmas dinner, so she was busy into preparations for that....she is a FABULOUS cook!), so Grace and I left to come here to get eggs....I never cook, so it was amazing that I had any to begin with! As we were leaving, Grace and I decided to ride around my neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. My house is the 7th one in at the second entrace to my subdivision, so I don't see what goes on with all the houses behind me unless I drive around to look, but I was pleasantly, and I mean pleasantly, surprised to see that many houses had a nativity scene set up in their front yard! YEA! I was glad to see that, and it provided more of an opportunity for talk with Grace. That was fun and we decided that might be our tradition. As we were heading back to their house about 10:20, she saw Santa several times up in the sky. She was worried that she wasn't in bed and asleep yet, so I told her he was probably up there looking for the babies homes so he could go there first since they had an earlier bedtime and were surely already asleep. She was satisfied with that. Although I know these days will be coming to an end in the next year or two, I love the fact that she still believes in Santa. It is just so much fun and when I say she still believes, I mean she believes HARD. She told my sister that she wanted to marry Santa so she could take care of him. I guess she's afraid Mrs Claus isn't as good to him as she needs to be! Grace leaves him cookies and milk out every year and, this year, she even left him a Starbuck's mug so he could take his drinks to go and they would stay hot! She wanted a bell from his sleigh too, so my sister had found these ornaments that were like sleigh bells, but they had a portion cut out in the side and had a nativity set inside of them. She left two of them out, one for Kate and one for Grace. Grace was absolutely thrilled! You should have heard her screeching and hollering....it was adorable!
Anyway, not long after we got home from getting the eggs and looking at Christmas lights, it got to be about bedtime, so since I was sleeping with Grace that night, I went in there to lay down with her until she fell asleep. While we were laying there, I told her we needed to say our prayers and asked if she wanted to say them or if she wanted me to. Of course, she wanted me to, so I started:
"Dear God, we thank you for today and for the time we have had together to play and have fun....we pray that you will give us a good day tomorrow and help us to remember that Christmas isn't about the presents, but that it's about Jesus' birth...."
While I am saying this, I hear this sweet little voice, "It's never about the presents," I keep praying, then I hear a little louder, "It's NEVER about the presents," so I just try to fluff over it and keep going thinking that she surely understands that I know that since we had talked about it earlier, but then Grace stops me and says, "AUNT DIANNE, IT IS NEVER ABOUT THE PRESENTS!!!" Of course, I just had to giggle because it was funny that she just kept right on saying that until I got the point, but I had to acknowledge what she was saying....that she was RIGHT and that I was proud of her for correcting me on that. What a sweetie! Not much gets by her, that's for sure.
Not long after that she was snoozin' away and there I was, laying in the dark thinking about how God has blessed me though these two nieces of mine, each in their own way, and that I probably wouldn't experience such sweet times with them if I had kids of my own.
Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am to have the life that I have???
