It is very frosty and cold here this morning. There is a sharp wind and it stings your face the minute you step outside. Winter is so nice to look at from inside but I no longer care to rush out to be in it. I remember the days when it seemed all I got done was put snowsuits on, overshoes, mittens scarves and earmuffs so the children could go out to play. When their dad came home from delivering mail (on foot in those days) if he complained about the cold, they couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t want to go out and play in it.

Some days before lunch, we had three or four changes with all three of them, drying the snow off in-between playtimes. They were filled with hot chocolate and cookies while they warmed up and their wraps dried out. It’s been a long time ago now and I would imagine none of them like cold weather as they used to. When I was much younger and the children were very small, I would go out with them to pull sleds up the hill or show them how to make a snowman. As they grew older, snow forts and snowball fights took the place of those.

The holidays were filled with wild anticipation. When they were little, they didn’t get gifts much through the year as children do now. Birthday time and Christmas were giants to look forward to…..it was certain to bring at least one thing they dreamed of owning. However simple, back then, it was still hard to get everything done because so much of the decorating or gift giving was made.

I’m sure the three of them remember the year we had the paint set and made a mountain of placemats and decorations with the embroidery pens. I found those things tucked away after mom died…….she saved them all those years. It was always fun for me when baking day came and they rolled out sugar cookies, cut out and frosted them. They each had their own plate and were very proud of their accomplishment. Sometimes you had to imagine the original shape the cookie was supposed to be but they were enjoyed, none the less.

Christmastime with children is not meant to be perfect. Cookies were odd shaped, the drawing on their placemats was very crooked, their paper rings were pasted and lopsided, and their tree decorating lacked quite a bit but Christmas happened at our house and they were allowed to be part of it. When the curiosity of their gifts couldn’t be contained any longer, I let them open one gift each day the last few days before Christmas.

Unlike Scooge, I don’t have to have a bad dream to enjoy Christmas. It is a wonderful time to make memories no matter the size of your purse strings. Bad times come for everyone but Christmas brought a gift of life to the world and made it possible for all of us to have hope, charity and eternity. I hope you have memories that bring pleasure at this time of year……..

Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther