Santa Claus is Real, & I'll Tell you Why

I honestly have no idea how we got here, but somehow the most wonderful time of the year has arrived yet again... I swear it was just summer! Time flies when you're having fun, right?

I wonder how many diapers I've changed since last Christmas...

This will be my second Christmas as a Mom, and I have to say I learned A LOT during that first Christmas season...And when I say I learned a lot, that means that I definitely know what I should do differently this year, but......the jury is still out on whether I'll ACTUALLY listen to logic and do things differently, or if I'll just keep repeating the cycle of Mom insanity....

Olivia was only 7 and 8 months old during the Christmas season last year. Being my first Christmas as a Mom, I think that fact that I started gift shopping for her even before Halloween was a pretty good indicator that I was gonna go a little over board...and obviously, I did.

We buried my infant in presents, dressed her in Christmas colors and outfits with holiday sayings, we made foot print tree ornaments (which I'm totally doing every single year until she is married because when I pulled out that little foot ornament this year, I was overcome by the memories of my sweet little nugget that is now a terrifying toddler...)... every possible Christmas related activity we could do, we did... And I loved every single second of it...

I loved every second of it, but is that really enough? Is that really enough to make it worth all the time, money, and energy that I spent on a holiday that my child was still far to young to remember, and is probably still too young to remember this year?

You bet it is.

Yes, I spent more money than I should have on gifts that my kid honestly didn't need. She liked the wrapping paper and empty boxes far more. She still does.

Yes, I put SO much time into all the little Christmas activities we did.

Yes, I single handedly supported Esty shops everywhere by buying one million personalized holiday outfits.

Yes, I put WAY too much energy into something my child will never remember.

But I will.

I will remember all of these crazy and ridiculous things I've done for the holidays. I will remember the look on her face when she saw the Christmas tree decorated for the first time. I will remember the look of terror on her face when she first saw Santa Claus.

Maybe I can scale back on the spending, I'm sure that I can find far better ways to invest in my child's future that don't include buying her every toy ever created...

But long story short, all this got me thinking...

The whole Santa Claus thing... As kids we all believe in this magic... This mythical person who makes all of our hopes and dreams come true ( If we behave and make the nice list!)... Sounds a lot like parenting, huh?

As parents, we create the magic. We create the memories and the feelings. Christmas is just as much for us as it is for the kids. The kids just don't understand what we're really doing. They understand the gifts and the story of Santa, but they don't comprehend that it's us, the parents, creating that hope. And in return for creating that hope and wonderment, we get these memories and these moments of our sweet babies in return.

So I've decided that Santa Claus is real. Santa is us. Santa is the parents. We are very real... we exist (especially when we're yelling!).

So go a little overboard. Do a little extra. Make more some more memories.

What are your holiday traditions? Do you go overboard with gifts? Do you have elaborate Santa schemes? I wanna know!