Tis the Season

Christmas?!?  My son doesn't know his own name half the time but somewhere along the way he's learned the word Christmas!  We put up our trees on Monday while he was at school and the first thing he said when he walked in the door was, "Christmas", bless his little heart.  Big change from last year... Last year was what I like to call the Great Christmas Standoff of 2010; a battle of wills between him and I regarding the Christmas tree.  I preferred the decorations ON the tree and he felt the decorations would be better off lying around the floor of his bedroom.  I'd put them up, he'd take them down. He also launched a one toddler -Free the Snowmen! revolution. Apparently I was the big oppressor of his "people" and my son felt it was his duty to reunite the snowman ornaments with their long lost relatives the snowman figurines, towels, stuffed snowmen and snowmen stockings who had been so callously scattered across the land (our house) by yours truly. 


There is a different feeling in the air this Christmas 2011, yep this year is looking up. Z woke me up the other morning with a gold ball in his hand and said "ornent" (ornament) and wanted it placed back on his tree.  He helped decorate his little tree and has thus far left my big tree alone.  The snowmen have safely migrated to their rightful homes throughout the land and the best part which is something I've been waiting for since the year he was born, Z actually let me read "Twas the night before Christmas" for the first time ever the other night while we cuddled in front of the trees. Okay so he fussed through a few pages but he looked at the pictures and pointed out some things he knows as I turned the pages. Last year he wouldn't even let me open the book. 

It'll be a few years before we can read him the nativity story and I am not sure if he will ever be able to understand the history of Christmas and what it's supposed to be about.  How do you explain religion or even something fun like Santa for that matter to someone who is super literal and deals best with tangible experiences?

I'm just so grateful for the little strides he keeps making each year. This Christmas I will happily settle for the next few weeks being about the scent of Cinnamon, Ginger, & vanilla coming from the kitchen, the merry sound of Christmas music playing through the stereo and the true joy on his face as he opens his presents.  It really doesn't matter what your religious views are; being mom to an Autie I've learned that you don't have to "get" Christmas in order to "get" the feeling or spirit of the season.  Much love and Happy Holidays to you all!

Christmas 2011.  Day 3 and the trees are still standing! Only 25 more days to go :)