Getting ready for Christmas … with your baby
Lately, I keep hearing people talk (and blog) about how magical it is to be getting ready for Christmas with their toddler/child, because they are finally old enough to “know what’s going on.”
People have even made comments to me like, “Oh, Baby Boy won’t have a clue,” and “He has no idea,” and “You’ll get to open all his presents for him.”
They assumed we would just decorate the tree ourselves, because it’s easier (nope — we let him attempt to put on ornaments, play with the lights, stroke the prickly branches).
They assumed we were not writing and mailing a letter to Santa Claus (we did, and got a handwritten reply!).
They assumed I was not involving him in gift-wrapping (I did, and he had a blast playing with the empty wrapping paper rolls).
They assume we will open his gifts for him (nope — he’s already tried to open several, and he’s got it figured out).
They assume we will not set out milk and cookies, because, as they put it, “You just start doing that when they’re old enough to ‘get it'” (We will be baking Santa’s cookies together on Christmas Eve, and leaving them out — along with a carrot for Rudolph).
Yes, Baby Boy is only six months old. But who cares how old he is? Whether he was two weeks old or 11 months old, it’s his first Christmas!
We are beginning the family traditions that will carry on into his childhood. The traditions we will share with his future siblings someday. The traditions he’ll remember (and maybe continue) when he’s a grown-up, himself.
Getting ready for Christmas this year has been so exciting, because I’ve gotten to explain every step to Baby Boy, and share it with him.
He loves patting the tree every morning when we turn on the lights. He loves exploring (and trying to open) the gifts under the tree (including the ones meant for other people).
He loves playing with his empty stocking (that I sewed last week) and I’ve been putting blocks inside so he can “practice” getting things out of it.
We watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas together, and I even fed him a tiny nibble of a sugar cookie. Why should he miss out on anything because he’s a baby? I mean, it’s Christmas!
Other people can do — or not do — what they want, but I think having a baby on Christmas is no excuse to not do special things because you think they’re too young to understand or remember.
Yes, they are young, but it still feels magical — I promise.
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Heather's Handmade Life 