Playing Santa

Almost midnight and while I'm not in the most reflective mood; I thought I should write about Mason's first real Christmas with me.

Last year was a hard Christmas for me as it was the first major holiday that the three of us didn't spend together.   Mason was scheduled to spend the time with his Dad in Alberta from the 20th to the 26th.  It was a tough because of not having my little boy with me, as well losing my paternal Grandmother Audrey and being laid off from my job all the week before Christmas.  Brutal.

So now that is all behind me and I now have a fab new job and a ton of paid time off before the new year, it was my turn to spend Xmas with Masey and I was thrilled to bring him 'home' for the holidays.  Home is in Campbell River where my Parents, maternal Grandparents and Aunt/Uncle live [all within a few blocks, believe it or not] as well as a ton of friends.

I booked the ferries way in advance as I didn't want to deal with sailing waits in the chilly weather which surprisingly was quite rainy and not snowy (which makes for better road conditions..kinda).  I had Friday the 23rd off work so I spent the day completing last minute errands and getting my house spotless so when we return it's not so stressful. 

I picked Mason up from his Dad's mid morning with a full car and a happy Mommy.  Mason's Daddy treated us to a packed lunch and after Mason said his goodbye's, off we went.

During the car ride, Mason seemed in a good mood yet not quite himself.  Made two of us.  I have been a bit emotional too partially because of hormones and the other because the last Christmas was so hard and the year before he was so little that it wasn't a true Christmas experience.  I thought many times of what holiday traditions I wanted to introduce Mason to and what I had experienced as a child that really made an impression on me.

Going back down memory lane:

  • The race down the stairs with my Brother Mike to grab our stockings, dump the contents, check out what we go, stuff the contents back in and then run upstairs to my parents bedroom to ask if it was 'okay' if we opened our stockings
  • Being allowed to open one present Christmas Eve and then another before my parents officially got up and ready to come down to open presents
  • The excitement of gathering the presents that had each of our names on it and putting them in a large pile to see who had more
  • Eating icy squares from our stocking to get the sugary tummy ache before breakfast

  • Getting my first cell phone for Christmas
  • Getting my first Ipod
  • Family visits at Mama & Papa's and Grandma & Grandpa's
  • Gourmet breakfast made by my Mom (made every year but mostly remember it now that I'm older)
  • As a teen running to Mike's room to wake him up and him replying 'screw off, I'm tired'  Merry Christmas to you TOO!

Funny story tonight - so we went to Mama & Papa's to say hello and Mama had the house decorated with lights and knick-nacks and I notice this Santa HEAD hanging from a string in front of a window.

This is the conversation:

  • J - "Mama, I don't like that Santa head in the window"
  • M - "Why?"
  • J - "Cause it's creeeepy.  Like, where is the rest of its body???"
  • M - "Well I'm not taking it down"
  • J - "It's ugly, like a shrunken head".  Then in a ghoulish voice I say "I'm sannnntaaaaaaaaa"
  • M - "I can take it down"
  • J - "No, it's your house but it's creepy"

LOL

So back to Mason.  What kind of things did I want to teach him, expose him to and create beautiful memories with?

The first thing I did was create a Magic Santa video which is extremely impressive and Mason absolutely loved it!  He really thought Santa was talking to him as he kept replying and didn't catch on even though he watched it 4x!

Then I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to get him for Christmas.  When his Dad and I discussed birthday presents and gifts in general, we both agreed that we wanted Mason to understand the giving, rather than the receiving and even went as far as to decline gifts on his first birthday and instead request donations to the food bank, which we proudly took to the Vancouver Food Bank the following day.   On Mason's second birthday, we also avoided hoards of gifts by having his party at daycare where we shared cupcakes.  And now that his 3rd birthday is coming up in February, we need to figure out what the plan is for that one and what format we will do it in.

Don't think that Mason doesn't ever get toys and books etc, he has plenty.  Both sets of Grandparents spoil him rotten and I often pick up toys at Value Village and Craigslist when I find items I think he will enjoy/learn from.  I also am a big advocate of using the Burnaby Library to bring home enough books for the week.  Free is good!

For Christmas this year, I really didn't feel good about putting the emphasis on the gifts and Santa dropping presents off. So, what did I get him?? My gifts to Mason will be revealed on the next blog on Mason's experience of Christmas Morning.

But more on the whole idea.   When we are in the car, I explained that it was Christmas time and we were heading to GrammyPapa's to spend time with our family.  He does recognize the name Santa but I wondered if he really knew what it entailed.  I asked him, he didn't answer.

So as I'm explaining...."Santa brings toys to all the good boys and girls of the world.  He has a sleigh..that um flies through the air like an airplane and he has reindeers and he lands on the roofs of the houses and goes down the chimney and puts the presents under the tree.  We also are going to leave out snacks for Santa and his reindeers so he'll take a minute to eat too".

"Oh why Mom, why?".

"Why what? why does he do that?"....Cause he's really generous?  Cause he wants to reward good behavior.  GOOD question.

The whole Santa thing made a lot of sense when families lived off so little and Christmas was a time for family and receiving that much sought after toy.  Now...in almost 2012, it should be less about the gifts and more about the giving.

So that thought sat with me all day.

We arrived safely in Campbell River and spent some time hanging out, then off to the Grandparents and back home.  Next tradition, the Santa snacks.  I brought Mason into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, two cookies, glass of milk and 2 baby carrots.  We put them on the fireplace hearth.  I was glad that Mason is too young to realize we have a gas fireplace and wanted to know how Santa got into the living room without catching on fire or breaking in.  (whew!)

Soon it was bath time, a quick call to Daddy, then we tried to calm him down but bedtime stretched out.  After almost an hour, he was snuggled up to me, his head tucked under my chin and the scent of freshly shampoo'd hair tickled my nose.  It was time to head downstairs and take the presents out of hiding (I told my Mom I didn't want any visible to keep up with the Santa theme).   Then I brought them into the living room to place them under around the 'tree'.  Sadly my parents have gone from a real tree 70-90's, then upgraded to the fake artificial plastic thing 2000 - 2010 and now they traded that in for the miniature optical tree that most elderly people have.  I was a bit disappointed, I really do miss the scent of pine in the living room early morning when the house is still nippy.

A cookie was returned to the tin, the other in my tummy.  Carrots back in the fridge save for the ends which I left on the plate with some crumbs for effect and dumped the milk back into the carton (Santa is lactose intolerant).

So now it's 1/2 hr past 12 and FB is all aglow with Merry Christmas's and I'm about to finish this blog.  I really hope that Mason has a wonderful Christmas and cherishes the time spent with family.  In time, my biggest wish is that the focus is not on the toys and what he receives and more of the spirit.  I won't have him next year as he'll be with his Dad but I'd like to sponsor a family through Salvation Army and if money permits, purchase an item for this cause.  And as Mason gets older, really involve him in the process so he can see how others are not as fortunate and just how lucky he is to be surrounded by loving parents and family and all that he does have.

Wishing all my blog readers a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

~Jodelene

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