I just love Christmas.  Most people do.  Each year, I sit down on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner and pop in White Christmas and get ridiculously excited for the month of December and everything that comes with it.  The preparations for this holiday are as exciting as the holiday itself.  Wrapping paper, holiday candles, candy canes and lights.  But one of the best things about the month of December is the presence of Santa Claus everywhere you look.  I have a decent track record with the big guy in red.
The one thing that has always been tough is the “list.”   How is a little girl supposed to know how many things she should put on this list?  What if Santa mixes up my gift with my brother’s or puts me on the naughty list and I don’t know it.  Sitting down and writing it out was always tough.  I didn’t want to ask for too much and come off as selfish.  I definitely didn’t want anyone to think I was just in this for the presents.
Once the list was complete, we would go as a family to the landscape/garden store that my dad worked at and get our pictures taken with Santa Claus and deliver him my Christmas wish list.  I was always so sure to watch his reaction and make sure that my list was reasonable.
I loved Christmas Eve because we got to see my grandparents and all my cousins on my dad’s side of the family.  The house would be filled with tons and tons of people, lots of food and 2 Christmas trees filled with the most beautiful angel ornaments.  Santa Claus would stop by with a present for each grandchild and it was absolute chaos.  I loved all the noise and craziness.  
That’s me and my great grandma.  Santa brought me my very own camera that year.  I also had the rosiest cheeks in all of the land when I was younger too.  
The next morning, we would wake up with just the 4 of us at home and open the rest of our Santa presents and play with all of our new toys.  Each year, we would get new starter jackets, hockey sticks, pajamas, stockings full of candy and one item that we really really wanted.  The year I received the Game Gear is one that I will never forget – mostly because of this picture.  That nightgown and that hair.  I was just adorable.

As a 28 year old, I still struggle with my Christmas list.  I don’t really feel right handing out a list of all the things I want for Christmas.  I don’t ever really shop off of lists unless I’m getting someone something that they need, but I don’t feel right writing one myself.  Sure, it’s fun to have a “favorite things” list, but to actually send that out to family members seems weird.  Everyone just giving everyone else a list is barely any different than skipping the shopping & wrapping and everyone just buying for themselves.  It just feels weird.

For me, shopping for others is a gift itself.  I’d be happy with my stocking filled with candy & chapstick and a few snowflakes on Christmas morning.  Oh and this year, I would like a weekend full of fun with my parents in the most magical city in all the land- I think Santa’s going to deliver yet again.  Hope you all have a December that is filled with little moments that excite you like a kid gets excited on Christmas morning.

Helene in Between