This has been a very unique Christmas for me. For most of my adult life, as someone without children, Christmas wasn’t exactly the exciting holiday that it used to be as a kid, of course. It was still nice to get together with the family to exchange gifts and have a dinner feast. But the old magic had pretty much faded.

Now that I have two little ones, I’m getting to experience a new aspect of Christmas. I’m sure this is old news to most of my readers, but living Christmas vicariously through your young children is pretty fun. My oldest boy Noah is now 3.5 years old, so he’s really able to understand what’s going on, unlike previous years. His little brother Eli isn’t quite 2 years old yet, so he doesn’t really get it yet.

It was a joy to play Santa Claus this year; wrapping and hiding the gifts, preparing the stockings, sneaking out to put everything in place, and of course getting the cookies and milk as a reward. Seeing Noah’s anticipation as I showed him the Santa Tracker online and his excitement as he woke up this morning to Santa’s presents was the most fun I’ve had on Christmas in many years.

In a time when humanity hasn’t exactly been impressing me lately (especially the online denizens), it’s a lift to my spirits to disconnect from the craziness and enjoy the holidays with my family. It reminds one of what is real and what is transient noise.

I hope that all of the readers of this blog had a wonderful holiday season and sincerely hope that you have an even better 2014.