Christmas, we've been waiting all year for you.

I feel like it began the day after we put away last year's holiday decor.

"Elmo Christmas!"  "Caillou Holiday Movie!"

We watched these beloved holiday movies in January, the heat of the July sun and now again in December.  The menorah was carried to school of WEEKS, and remains a prominent lovey to this day (currently sitting on my coffee table).  

The other day, we had a dusting of snow on the car, to which Jonathan exclaimed (per scripting from the Caillou movie,) "Snow!  It's Christmas time!"

That it is, Jonathan.  That it is.  And this year is the first year that I feel like he may have some semblance of "getting it."  He knows who Santa is.  He knows the Christmas tree.  He knows the dreidels, the menorah and the lights.  And recently, he's been talking about "Kwanzaa and the kinara."  Hey, I guess if we're celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah, we really shouldn't leave out Kwanzaa.

I'm thankful that we will be doing a low-key holiday season.  While we will miss our family and friends dearly, I'm glad that, after this especially challenging year, our little Farley Family can hibernate and do the holidays on our own terms.  No expectations...almost just like we've been doing things all along.

Oh, I have to mention Jonathan's preschool holiday program.  It was HILARIOUS.  The kids had learned three holiday poems.  And I was warned that Jonathan would probably not recite them with the class.  I didn't think he would.  During the presentation, while the quiet, calm children lined up perfectly in a line, my little hell-ion ran back and forth like a crazy man behind them.  He was smiling and flapping and looking for Mike and me.  For those who don't know him, he probably looked like a kid that had too much sugar, in the vein of Stewart from MadTV ("Look what I can do!").  But to Mike and me, we knew the running, flapping, smile combo meant one thing...he was super happy.  And that made us super happy in return. 

When it was all over, and I was buckling him up in the car, he looked at me, and started reciting one of the poems, with hand movements and all.  He couldn't do the words exactly, because that is not how he hears it.  It came out "I sabba sabba snowball.  It sabba sabba sab."  But he did the vocal inflections perfectly, and I knew what he was doing.  So I had my own, private performance.  I think MY show was the best.

So while Jonathan might not understand the difference between naughty and nice, and while he might break his record of taking three hours to open gifts, I know he is excited and happy for the upcoming holidays.   

And now he's singing "Jingle Bells" and waving at the TV along with the Elmo movie. 
Happy Holidays to all.