The Christmas Spirit of AHA

This weekend was filled with lots of little moments of everyday AHA. My oldest had a basketball game, and it made me proud to watch him play and think about how much he had improved from his first season, when he was about 6 and all the kids ran up and down the court with their arms in the air and the coaches were yelling "Cover your guy!!! Cover your guy!!" Now, he actually knows the difference between offense and defense and knows when to block and when to shoot. It's pretty impressive watching a group of 9 and 10-year-olds who know (sort of) what they're doing. I don't know the first rule about basketball, other than put the ball in the other team's net. My son impresses and amazes me everyday with the things he learns and knows. He makes me so very proud.

After the game, I packed up the kids and drove to my parent's house for our Christmas celebration with them. It's early, I know, but it's so much easier to spread the celebration over a number of days rather than scurry around trying to see both sides of the family in one day. Typically, we do Christmas morning at the house, then see some of the Percival family in the afternoon, and inevitably - because they live further away - we celebrate with the DeForest family, my family, either a few days before or after December 25. And that's worked well. That way, we get a little more time with each side. We opened gifts with my parents, my sister and her 2 boys and all 5 kids had a fabulous time. It's so great to watch kids open gifts.

My oldest, when he was first learning the skill of opening gifts, would slowly tear the paper from the gift one strip at a time. His father swears he got this from my family. His second Christmas, when he could actually open gifts by himself, I thought all 3 Percival siblings' heads were going to explode because he just would not move fast enough for them! It was a very painstaking, particular process that took him a very long time to complete. (He's gotten much faster over the years, by the way.) My daughter, on the other hand, now she is definitely a Percival kind of gift opener. She literally had the rip and throw technique down in no time. You know- rip the paper from the gift, throw it over your shoulder in one fell swoop and rip another bit of paper from the gift, then throw that one, repeat until there is a pile of paper behind you and none on the gift. She only needed to be shown once how to open. It was all over after that. Now, my third child is also kind of a rip and throw type of opener, but he also has to have his hands in everything. So not only will he open his gifts, but he likes to see what everyone else has gotten and will be more than happy to help open if they're too slow (another Percival trait).

So anyway, back to my parent's house... watching 5 kids between the ages of 2 and 9 open gifts and throw paper all over the living room was quite amusing. There was one or two gift mix-ups when we had to return the newly opened present to it's rightful owner, but overall they all did a great job. Then came the interaction. My youngest was fascinated with the puzzle that made animal noises every time a piece was put in place (thanks, Sis!), my two nephews got busy right away drawing with their new markers and drawing pads, my daughter was enamored with the Jessie and Bullseye dolls she received, and my oldest was quick to put together the little Lego robots. My favorite gift received by my kids is a book called something like, "Answers to all of Life's Questions" or "Every Answer You Need to Know" or something like that. Whatever it is, it boasts being able to answer a whole ton of questions asked my kids, which is what I need, given some of the questions that come from my children's minds! Good stuff.

The next day, we attended a holiday party at my sister's in-laws' house. This was a family gathering with lots of cousins and grandkids... and us. Didn't really know anyone, save for the parents-in-law and two cousins who were in my sister's wedding. I thought it was nice for them to invite us, and it was fun to chat with some of the adults and watch all the kids play together. Then, Santa showed up! The kids were slightly apprehensive but excited that Santa had come to the party, and he even had a sack of toys with him! He passed out toys to all the kids, including mine, which I thought was -very- nice (since I didn't buy the gifts and didn't know Santa was going to be there). My son, who was the oldest of the "little kids" was slightly bummed that the "real" grandkids each got the 2010 Holiday Hess truck (the one with a jet on the back) and he got a MadLibs pad. I tried explaining to him (without ruining the Santa facade) that it was nice he got a present because this wasn't our family and Santa didn't really have to bring him anything right now. He seemed content enough with that explanation and was happy to play with his cousin's truck for a bit. *Whew!*

9 is tough age, I think, when it comes to Santa. My son is extremely logical and smart, and I would be completely amiss to think that he doesn't have some sort of clue that Santa is not a real person. Although I've never said it, and both their Dad and I have agreed that the Santa legend will live on as long as possible, I'm pretty sure that if my son doesn't have it figured out by now, he most certainly will by next year. But I've got my refutes ready! Santa may not be a real person, but the spirit is what counts, which is why we buy gifts for others, and donate to those less fortunate than us, and make gifts and cards to give to friends... and the spirit of Christmas is one that can last all year long. I don't like using Santa as a threat when the kids aren't behaving, because I think that sort of defeats the purpose of learning about the Christmas spirit. We've tried to instill that giving and being nice and generous is what Christmas is about. Santa is just an added bonus. But the coolest thing about my son figuring out the whole Santa scheme is... I think he'll keep it going for his siblings. He's the kind of kid who would help me wrap a present and tell his little sister that it really is from Santa. Heck, with his imagination, he will probably be able to come up with scenarios that I never thought of! I hope that his belief in Santa never dies, but a part of me is looking forward to seeing how he can help it continue with other little kids, even after he's figured it all out. Believing in Santa is AHA. My ex believes with all his heart, and I'd be surprised if I ever hear the words "Santa is not real" from him. I'm hoping my son (and subsequently the other 2 kids) will be that way as well.