Santa Practice: Christmas Day 2011

We had a fabulous Christmas holiday! Richard's sister Christina completed her service as an LDS Missionary in Ecuador and returned home to Iowa on December 17th.  We got to spend some time with Christina, Josh, Maureen and Ken Goering on Dec. 23rd in St. Louis and celebrate an early Christmas.

Since we were going to be in Iowa over New Year’s for Richard’s brother Mark’s sealing, we had been planning on spending Christmas day with my family here in St. Louis.  However, when Mom told us on the 23^rd that they had decided to cancel Christmas and celebrate it on the 27^th after Algot and his family arrived, Richard and I were left scrambling for plans for the big day.  Since one of the best parts of Christmas is children, we put our heads together and plotted about where we could get our hands on some.  Richard’s sister Kendra lives just 2 hrs south of us in Carbondale, so we decided to get up at 5 am and surprise their four kids with an early morning visit from Santa Clause.  Richard borrowed a Santa suit from an obliging friend, and I pulled out all the stops for my elf gear.  We braved the stores on the 24^th to do some shopping to fill up Santa’s pack for our new Christmas plans.  After spending Christmas Eve with my family we executed Operation Santa. Let’s just say, it’s a good thing we have some time to get the bugs worked out of it before we have our own kids.

 Of course our nieces and nephews loved the surprise visit, and *most* of our presents were a total hit.  But that was probably because we snuck in a phone call to their mother who passed on the Santa lists to us, not necessarily thru any perspicacity of our own. I did realize that there is a vast mommy-bank of knowledge that I do not have access to when I saw the age suggestions on the doll’s house I was wrapping up on Christmas Eve.  Calling anxiously for my own mother I asked her if she thought the doll’s house was too young for a 7 year old, too old for a 7 year old, or just right for a 7 year old. I guess a Mommy would just ‘know,’ but an Auntie is straight up clueless.  At least, an Auntie without a degree in Early Childhood Education. But somehow I just can’t bring myself to regret that. 

 I'm not sure, in the end, who had more fun playing with the hot wheels race-track, Uncle Richard, or the nieces and nephew!