I had another post all ready to go this week, but it didn’t have anything to do with Christmas and I had the most exciting thing happen last week that I thought I would do a quick post about that instead and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

When you have a Preschool child and Christmas comes around, you are so excited to celebrate with them. They scream little squeals of delight as they open presents. The focus is completely on them. Then they hit school age and the kids are able to do some shopping at what our school calls “Santa’s Secret Shop.” (Do all schools do these?) We send in money for the kids to “shop” at a store within the school for the members of their family, so they get to participate in the “giving” too.

Jacob has always been so thoughtful and picked out things that he thought we would really like. Marissa on the other hand has always picked out something she would like and give it only so she can play with it later. Last year, I got a bracelet that she liked. Of course I was grateful and thanked her for giving me a gift as I handed the bracelet to her to try on. But, this year was different!

Marissa has been noticing recently that I’ve been wearing scarfs to work. She has never noticed before, but this year she has. She’s said, “nice scarf mom” a couple times in the past couple weeks. This may not sound like a big deal, but it is to me! She was noticing something that has nothing to do with her. She was looking beyond herself.

So, it came around to her day to “shop” at the Santa’s Secret Shop and guess what she picked for me? A new scarf! I couldn’t stop the tears from forming in my eyes as I realized how much progress she’s made over the last year. I’m so proud of her as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas! I challenge you to celebrate the little things your kids do this season and remember the real reason we celebrate – a little child born in a manger years ago. Have a Merry Christmas!