Father Christmas's First Real Visit

Thanks for hopping over from Cookies & Cwtches and welcome to my post for the twelfth - and final - day of #12daysofparenting.

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This year B is incredibly excited about Father Christmas, and her excitement is rubbing off on M who keeps telling us, "Santa Clause is comin' a-town!" Last Christmas was the first year B understood and got excited about Father Christmas. She told me she wanted to leave Father Christmas some milk to drink with his mince pie; and she remembered that we had found out at a friend's party that reindeer like to eat mushrooms, so we duly placed a mushroom out too.

It turns out, reindeer like mushrooms.

But it was that Christmas morning that will be in my memory forever. When she woke up, B was only interested in checking Father Christmas's tray. She didn't ask about her stocking; she didn't look to see if there were presents by the tree; she ran to the tray and, with a look of pure delight, declared, "Father Christmas left me a bit of his mince pie!"

Father Christmas left me a bit of his mince pie!

I would be lying if I said that my heart didn't melt a little at that. Her innocence, and the pure, unadulterated joy she expressed were beautiful. She was perfectly content in that moment, overjoyed with the tiny gift she had been given, and completely uninterested in receiving anything more. If only we could all be more like that. 

"And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."" Matthew 18:2-3 (NIV)

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