comfort & joy
December 21, 2016 § 4 Comments
There is a stillness to this season, small changes that have created a simpler experience of Christmastime. Gone is the chaos of elementary school parties; teacher gifts and classroom games, goodie bags and delegated snack assignments. Our children are of an age that we can recall the quiet frenzy of these holiday productions with equal measure sentiment and relief.
This year we’ve kept our social commitments minimal, intentionally gathering among old friends and new while preserving time enough to rest between festivities. A lunch celebration with co-workers and a coffee date between errands, a formal performance and an elegant evening among neighbors are sandwiched between lazy mornings and reruns of beloved movies. School nights have been squandered with spontaneous baking and vacation days given to family.
Even the gifts are no longer choreographed into tidy measurements of equality among our children, but aligned by need in anticipation of joy. Small gestures of thoughtfulness and indulgent offerings of appreciation. Our children have outgrown wish lists and are content to pen their names to family Christmas cards, adding their own greetings to old school friends and favorite teachers.
We’ve outgrown some traditions and added others, traded responsibilities and packed away reminders of unhappier Christmas spirits. As we near Christmas Eve, I find myself lingering in the quiet hours by the tree. Counting my blessings, unfolding gratitude like little cardboard doors on advent calendars; each day the sweetest gift of all.
scribblechic 
Wishing you a Happy Christmas, Marie. Hope it’s a good one for you and your family.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Andy!
And a love within by the meaning of those changes 😀
Merry Christmas to you and family Marie, and may your new year also be of new meaning, with the old too 😀
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, Mark!