Merry Christmas

The holidays are always a busy time, but it seems like this year with junior it was even busier.   I wasn't sure what to expect leading up to Christmas.  Junior did not seem to be excited for Christmas part of me wasn't surprised as we have no idea what Christmas was like for him in the past.   He had no interest in going to see Santa.  I asked on many occasions if he wanted to but the answer was always "not today."

I didn't want to push things and just tried to come up with other things to get him in the Christmas spirit.  We were visited by Claus the kindness elf with suggestions to do good things for others.   Claus had us:

• Make gifts for his team.
• Make gifts for the grandparents and great grandparents. 
• Donate toys and household items we no longer use.
• Donate food and toys to the animal shelter.
• Buy presents for the kids at Children's hospital 

Junior really looked forward to these tasks or maybe he just looked forward to the treats that were left after they were completed.  

We kept preparing him for what to expect on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Last night we had to ask him if he wanted to leave treats or a note for Santa.   I was expecting him to be more excited and he wasn't.  Today went mostly as expected.   He came into our room when he woke up and got into bed like he does every morning to cuddle.  After a few minutes he asked if Santa had come and he went to look, he then ran back to bed to report that he had come but he didn't rush downstairs.   

After he had opened about half of the presents he said "Now I'm excited for Christmas."   He seemed honestly happy with all of the gifts he received from us, Santa and family members.   His comment after he opened everything was "Santa did perfect." He has been quietly playing with his presents all day, except when we forced him to go to the movies.   

I do wonder how Christmas has been celebrated in his past and if he has been let down.   Hopefully we have established some things that will become family traditions in the future and next year he will be more excited.  It has to be hard not knowing what to expect and wondering if you will be let down like you have in the past.