Mary Angel

(12/2016) Warning: this month’s Mom’s Time Out article is not for children. If you are a child or an adult with a child in eye or ear shot do not go any further! That being said this might be the best Christmas season ever! All four of my kids are always excited when Christmas rolls around but, this year my youngest (who is nine) is overflowing with joy. She can’t be contained when it comes to everything Christmas.

As I sit here typing this article it is not quite Thanksgiving and she is about to burst with anticipation of December first. She knows that on the morning of December first she will wake up and race out of her room in a frantic search for her friend who appears somewhere in our home on that very morning every year. You guessed it; our elf on the shelf (Elf Elfington III) is her special Christmas friend. Just before Thanksgiving she always questions what day he will arrive. After much debating we agree he appears in the most unusual place on the first morning in December. This year is slightly different. She is ten times more excited. I can only assume that her age has made her appreciate and understand the significance and shear fun of our family elf, while still allowing her to believe he is a magical visitor from the North Pole. This amazing little elf has not only brought an excitement in her that I have never seen before but he also comes with the ability to make her attitude, mood and all around demeanor take a 180. Once he arrives, with his appointed duty of reporting bad behavior back to Santa, she will put an unheard of amount of effort into being nicer and more helpful than any other time of year.

Her enthusiasm isn’t confined to her elf friend. She is so excited about Black Friday (and the whole weekend for that matter) shopping that she was packed for our girls weekend almost a full 2 weeks before we were to leave. The Hallmark channel has been playing Christmas movies in my house for over two weeks and the Christmas carols on the radio in the car are already driving my husband batty. Today I caught her telling my mom all about Christmas breakfast and what it was going to feel like and what she was going to eat. She has told me why she knows Santa is real. Simply put, it is because I would never spend money on her like Santa does. "Don’t feel bad mommy, it is because the toys don’t cost him anything," is her comfort to me. She is my last holdout, my very last believer in Santa. When she find out, which will be way too soon for me, I will be very sad. It seems like each child was younger than the last when they found out, figured out, or were told that Santa wasn’t real. My youngest being nine could mean this is my last year of having a little believer in the house. Although, I am going to hold out great hope of one more year and maybe two.

Once the Christmas shopping extravaganza is underway then it is time to decorate. Today (again, not even Thanksgiving) she begged to start putting up decorations. After much debate back and forth I figured out that she thought Elf Elfington would come sooner if we put up the decorations. It took a little doing but I convinced her that he couldn’t arrive early because the Christmas magic that brings him only works in December. Next she started telling me all of the gifts she wanted to get for her family, Shopkins for her sister, Beauty and the Beast for her brother’s Bluray collection, and something Redskins for her Dad, were just the beginning. When I asked where she was going to get the money for all of these wonderful gifts, she insisted she would do extra chores for me and both her grandmas to earn the extra cash.

Soon we will start planning our Christmas Craft Day and then she might explode. Every year near the beginning of December I plan a Christmas Craft Day and we invite the kids’ friends over to make gifts for their family and friends. There are 15 or 20 different stations and a box with each child’s name on it to put their completed crafts in so they are not confused with someone else’s. Last year I added a photo booth with props for when they were finished or just need to take a break. This also allows the parents of these kids to have some alone time (and maybe even Christmas shop). She is so excited about our girls Christmas shopping weekend, Elf Elfington’s arrival, and decorating that she has completely forgotten about our craft day. This isn’t a bad thing, at the moment, since she usually drives me nuts to come up with the crafts and pick a day to have it.

All of this excitement can only mean one thing; this is her magical Christmas year. Each of my kids has had that one year when Christmas was extra special to them. It was the year when everything seemed almost magical. For my baby I hope this is her year. After all, she is off to a great start. It isn’t even Thanksgiving and she is already about to burst with anticipation and excitement. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all harness our childhood Christmas excitement and bring it out every year at Christmas time? I wish you all a Christmas filled with childhood excitement and Christmas elves!

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