Dear Kids,
I had vague plans for the last Saturday before my knee surgery. I was going to do “Christmas things.” But that morning, I found myself absentmindedly web-surfing, which was not terribly constructive.
Luckily, you guys had your own plans for the day, and you weren’t about to let me get in your way. Marshall was particularly persistent. He insisted that we put our tree up. And he did NOT want a real tree. He wanted to use the fake one so that we could put it together.
So that’s what we did. Both of you were such good workers, helping to sort the branches by size. It was a tough job getting the branches on and all the little twigs spread out to approximate the shape of a real Christmas tree, but we did it together. Then there were the lights (what a pain!). But when it was done, how cheerful the tree looked!
I once again chose not to put up most of my glass ornaments, but I did take out all my cloisonné butterflies. You were enchanted with them. Every time Livia picked up another one to put on the tree, she’d show it to Marshall and say, “It’s sooooo beautiful!”
We took all of our other Christmas things out of the boxes, too, including our stuffed Grinch toy. I jokingly told you to make sure he didn’t steal Christmas. Apparently you took me seriously.
No one is going to steal our Christmas this year!
Charley showed up the next morning. The tree decorating must have been his cue to arrive. He was sitting in the tree, looking as happy as could be.
With the elf back, of course you wanted to read the Elf on the Shelf book. You were particularly interested in the page that shows Santa’s lists (one for Naughty, one for Nice). I explained what they were and asked each of you which list you were on. Marshall said he was on the Nice list. Livia, on the other hand, said she was on the Naughty list. Oh, no! I couldn’t have my little girl thinking that! So I told her that she was definitely on the Nice list, that I knew she was a good girl, and that being naughty once in a while was not enough to make her Naughty. She absolutely glowed.
You both glowed, really. You love Christmas, and you make me love Christmas. So maybe I glowed a bit, too.
Love,
Mom