A Good Handful of Years

Tonight I realized there's only a good handful of years that will ever be like this. The magic. The newness of it all. And it's like that with anything in life, you know? Relationships are only sparkly and new when they're sparkly and new. And the first time you read the best book of your life will only be that first time you read it. And Christmas as a child only lasts as long as you're a child, and before the world kind of creeps in and changes things up a bit. So this right now, the whole wide-eyed, magical experience of Christmas, will only be here for a short time. I know this. I thought about it as I watched Henry sort through our ornaments tonight, marveling over the shiny ones, the sparkly ones, the ones shaped like stars and sleds and snowflakes. He believes Santa will be coming down our chimney with a sack full of gifts. He believes we will be seeing him on the Polar Express this weekend, and going to the North Pole. He knows with every ounce of his little three-year old body that this is true, and that Christmas is a time for MAGIC. And to see him believe and see him feel all of the happy feelings that bubble up in every moment during this time of the year is enough to make me cry just typing it out. I feel SO lucky. And in a blog post it can be hard to convey these types of things but I just have to say it because that's all I can think about. I feel so lucky to have this little block of time when everything is new and fresh and sparkly, and Santa is real and his reindeer are real because I'm reliving it all over again too. I'm a child again, stars in my eyes as I hang ornaments and bake cookies and allow a little part of my heart to believe in the beauty and simplicity of everything this season brings. The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in this house, and for that I am so, so thankful.