Best Christmas

What was your best Christmas? This past Christmas week, my mother posed this question to me, a question for which I had no answer. My mind was instantly flooded with the gifts I received: my Samantha doll, a new computer, a big girl bike, the perfect stereo, but no one Christmas stuck out in my mind. My answer to her was that every Christmas was great. I was always very excited on Christmas morning and was never disappointed. Now, though, I can appropriately answer the question.

On Christmas Eve Evander, Momma, Daddy and I stayed up pretending to be Ho Ho. We acted as Santa's workshop in overdrive, constructing a gigantic playhouse, piecing together a doll bed and stroller, and stuffing stockings to the rim. We gathered and piled presents and set everything out just so. I placed some gingerbread cookies on a plate and took them off again, so the crumbs would seem real. I also poured a glass of soy milk and poured it down the drain, just for that special effect of milk scum at the bottom of the little green cup. When we decided that everything was perfect, we went to bed (Evander slept on the couch with Bubba and I slept on Baby's floor to make sure they didn't wander in the night).

At 4:45 I awoke, thinking it must be time for them to start getting up, but no one was stirring. My anticipation may have been higher than the children's but I was dying. I couldn't wait to see their faces and finally, an hour later, Bubba began to awaken. Evander quarantined Bubba in our bedroom while I ran to wake up my parents and Baby. When everyone was ready, we all walked into the Christmas tree room (where Ho Ho left all the gifts). The looks on their faces was more than I could have imagined. There was a twinkle in their eyes, a little sign that said, "I believe". They were both so overwhelmed they didn't know what to do first. Bubba's eyes immediately found the tractor that scoops up cars, and he would have been done after that if it weren't for Evander urging him to look through his stocking. Baby was in complete shock. Before her stood a pile of gifts and the baby doll she had wanted. She also saw Elmo and Abby peeking out from inside her stocking.

To see their reaction as they tore the paper off the playhouse was priceless, but so was the entire day. To see the twinkle in their eyes was a gift, the best gift I could ever receive. The magic of Christmas is alive in their hearts and they truly believe that Ho Ho brought those gifts for them. They could not be happier, and I am thankful that we could provide that for them. I am also thankful that my parents could experience this special Christmas with us. The was my best Christmas ever.