To those of you with siblings, I am sure you have fond memories of spending Christmas morning together. For those of you close in age, you shared the anticipation together. You probably fought over which presents were yours. You would sneak down the stairs together in the wee hours of the morning, hoping Mom and Dad wouldn't catch you. You laid in your beds together, with dancing sugar plums in your head. You laid out the cookies and milk in sync, made the rain deer food, and posed in those ugly Christmas sweaters. But, before you knew it, you both were in high school, sleeping in on Christmas morning, and already knowing half of what the presents were under the tree.
The magic of Santa, disappearing cookies, and magical reindeer had died off. Now, you were teenagers. No more Elf on the Shelf. No more sitting on Santa's lap. No more mailing a list to the North Pole. No more "you better be good, Santa is watching" threats. No more naughty and nice lists. All of that, is just a distant memory.
Unless, you are like me and you parents had a child many years after you were born. Me and my sister are 9 years apart in age. Just as I was beginning to figure out the whole "Santa" business, a new baby came into the world. I am now 19 years old, and I have never had a Christmas that wasn't filled with sitting on Santa's lap, waking up at the crack of dawn, setting out Santa's cookies, making lists, and yes, Elf on the Shelf graciously came to stores just as my sister could grasp the idea of Christmas.
Yes, I got the privilege of the creepy Elf moving around my house.
I am so thrilled to have been able to continue these small Christmas joys we remember as a child. It made the holiday seem more real, more magical, more worthwhile. It made everyone still have something to look forward to. Not only did I get to enjoy them myself, I got to recreate what I experienced as a child. I partook in moving the Elf, making the cookies for Santa, wrapping the presents, answering the "is Santa real question" with a witty remark to make her keep believing, Christmas shopping, reindeer feed making, coaxing an anxious child into their bed on Christmas Eve, religiously watching 24 hours of The Christmas Story on repeat, listening to Christmas music, relishing in the spirit of Christmas.
We successfully kept the Christmas spirit alive in my household all through my childhood years, and even into the first year of my "adult life". I am not sure what this Christmas will bring, but I am thankful to have spent the last 18 "believing in Santa". Having a sibling who is considerably younger than you makes these types of occasions more fun and magical.
I hope that my sibling always looks back upon her Santa believing Christmas's with happiness, as I did.
But, I can only imagine the anger she will have when she realizes I have been lying to her all these years!
