Thank you, Deanna for letting me be a part of your holiday blog
event.
I’ve always loved the holidays, but once I left ‘home’ it always felt a bit different. Yes, I usually had a Christmas tree in my apartments, and Mike and I usually had a tree since we’ve had our home, but as I’ve heard over and over – holidays are for the children. Much as I tried, the zip in my step, the smile on my face and the anticipation of having cookies come out of the oven, just slowly faced away.
I’ve always loved the holidays, but once I left ‘home’ it always felt a bit different. Yes, I usually had a Christmas tree in my apartments, and Mike and I usually had a tree since we’ve had our home, but as I’ve heard over and over – holidays are for the children. Much as I tried, the zip in my step, the smile on my face and the anticipation of having cookies come out of the oven, just slowly faced away.
As some know, Mike and I spent seven years and moved once in our
attempts to have a child. (After Virginia passed their anti-gay amendment
in '05, we didn’t feel comfortable being parents in that state so we moved to
the much more friendly confines of Maryland.) But once ‘lil q graced our lives,
for me at least, the magic of Christmas had returned. And this year more so
than ever.
I don’t mean to say the first two years weren’t special, because
they were, but there is something about singing your favorite holiday song (Rockin' around the Christmas)and having your
barely two year trying to sing with you. Or having her point to the computer
(she thinks that is where music and videos come from since that is where we
mostly play them) and saying Jingle Bells pease.
Last year she saw the gifts and thought they were pretty. This year she’s starting to understand. She’s seen Santa twice before this year, but this was the first time she seemed excited. [Not that you can tell from the picture] After Santa, we went shopping for Daddy [Mike] and for the first time I had to worry that she’d tell him what we bought. She thought it quite funny that she knew a secret. So pleased, in fact, she told her Daddy she had a secret. [She also told the people at daycare I go to work naked, so no one knows quite what to believe when she speaks.]
As I write this, we’ve yet to pick out the tree, but she’s been
talking about going to get a ‘cissmas’ tree. She’s even telling us
where she wants us to put the tree. She wants to poke into every
box of ornaments and as frustrating as it can be, half the time I just sit back
and watch. At some point I suppose I’ll stop smiling, but I’ve not reached that
moment yet. I’ve discovered my inner child again and have her to thank for
rekindling the fire of excitement. (Wish me luck as we make our first batch of
Christmas cookies this weekend.)
The holidays are indeed for children, but there is no rule that
says we can’t all be kids again – even for a little while. Taking the time to
go do the little things that made us happy as a kid is a great way to beat the
stress of the holidays. The cards can wait, the gifts aren’t as important as
the memories, and no one ever frowned at a Christmas cookie that I’m aware of.
Let me end by wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season.
-AQG
About the Author:
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point
pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high
tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when
he wants to write.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner
of eighteen years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging
some very self-important D.C. 'insiders', Andrew uses his commute to catch up
on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy,
baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day and not get the
shakes.
On Twitter: @andrewqgordon,
Or just email him: andrewqgordon@gmail.com
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