Tomorrow is THE DAY...right?

God willing, in literally 24 hours, all my shit will be out of this apartment. (Well, it has to be, or the apartment management may get cranky and vengeful.)

But mostly, I want to wake up on Christmas morning next to The Boy

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Seriously, this packing is sucking SO HARD, but then I stop and picture coming home every day to The Boy, or going to bed every night with him, or having breakfast (or coffee) every morning with him, and it makes the packing worth it.

Still sucks, but worth it.

A few years ago, Joe and I were at his brother's house for Christmas and his brother brought their 3 year old daughter down stairs and was showing her "these are the cookies Santa ate, this is the chimney he came down" and so on. I wouldn't mind if Ellie came to her own conclusion that there was a Santa, but it bothered me the way BIL was trying so hard to make his daughter believe in something that wasn't true.

I like the idea of preserving the magic of Santa and treating the revelation that Santa isn't real as an initiation into the adult side of maintaining the magic for the children.

I like this - I'm just not sure how you get there without feeling like you are deceiving them. There's no "wink" with a 2 or 3 year old. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how kids come to believe in Santa in the first place.

As a side note, as a Christian, it's important to me that Ellie understand that in our family, the story of Jesus' birth is not a fairy tale. How does she differentiate between a fun story her parents tell her for the magic of it and a religious tradition that we believe is grounded in truth?

Like I've said before, she bestows at least 5 nicknames on EVERYONE. Even the dog. Even Santa Claus.]

THAT'S why she kept calling me "Steve-o-rino"...

*(This will be -- literally -- the first Christmas of my LIFE that I won't wake up in my mom's house. Which, even though I'm 36, is kind of sad. But mostly, I want to wake up on Christmas morning next to The Boy. Which more than makes up for the sad.)

This was me last Christmas, and I think my mother is still sad that she can't surprise me with my gifts first thing Christmas morning. In our house, gifts from Mom were wrapped and gifts from Santa were unwrapped.

Sometimes the label will match the gift, like a bottle of wine of from Drunken Elf.

It's nice that Drunken Elf is not so much of an alcoholic that he keeps all the booze to himself....

As a side note, as a Christian, it's important to me that Ellie understand that in our family, the story of Jesus' birth is not a fairy tale. How does she differentiate between a fun story her parents tell her for the magic of it and a religious tradition that we believe is grounded in truth?

That's a tricky one!

Part of that, I think, is embracing the miracle of the faith whole-heartedly. There are LOTS of things that aren't true and this is special because it is. It's not just Santa, its people being honest or kind or wanting what is best for you... I don't know that I'm explaining myself well.

Hi Emily! I owe you a return phone call. *hangs head*

The way I always saw Christmas/Santa/Jesus (as a kid) was thusly:

Jesus was born and he was our Savior. When he was born, people wanted to show how happy they were He was born and they brought Him gifts to show Him. Santa Claus celebrates Jesus' birthday by giving gifts to all of Jesus' children to remind children that He (Jesus) loves them and wants the children should give to other's to also show them that Jesus loves them.

Now, written out like that, it sounds very shallow and "Gifts = Love", but in my heart, it's more about the giving - whatever it may be. As an adult, it's very much the same but in a larger sense of giving. Does that make any sense?

Like I've said before, she bestows at least 5 nicknames on EVERYONE. Even the dog. Even Santa Claus.]

THAT'S why she kept calling me "Steve-o-rino"...

If she had, it SO wouldn't surprise me.

Sometimes the label will match the gift, like a bottle of wine of from Drunken Elf.

It's nice that Drunken Elf is not so much of an alcoholic that he keeps all the booze to himself....

In the post-divorce days, Mom suggested that instead of leaving milk and cookies for Santa (aka Channey), we leave a beer.

No, really.

Santa Claus celebrates Jesus' birthday by giving gifts to all of Jesus' children to remind children that He (Jesus) loves them and wants the children should give to other's to also show them that Jesus loves them.

I like this too. And I don't think it's shallow to equate gifts with love. I mean, that's *supposed* to be why we do it.

I also like what JZ mentioned earlier (or JZ via Hec) about how there was a St. Nick - and how he was giving gifts, right?

Here in PR, St. Nick brings presents and instead of cookies, you are supposed to leave a box of grass out for his camels. I think it's St. Nick - I'll have to check.

eta: The grass is actually for the camels of the Three Kings. The grass goes under the child's bed and then in the morning, the grass is gone and there are the presents.