Around this time of year, I often hear the question asked, “What was your favorite Christmas present of all time?”
That’s an easy question for me to answer, though I’ve got to admit that it was a tough present to get, it was really expensive, and it required a ton of expensive upgrades through the years…..
Today we celebrated KitKat’s 15th birthday. This coming year will bring driver’s ed and a learner’s permit, more high school, homework, jobs, and time with friends.
Christmas Eve 1996 changed Christmases forever for me. I had enjoyed many memorable Christmases before that year, but no holiday before or since could compare to the experience of having my first daughter at Christmas time.
Becoming a mother on Christmas Eve really was the best present I’ve ever received. Although KitKat would argue that having a Christmas Eve birthday is not very desirable, I have looked at the holidays through different eyes since becoming a first-time Mom before celebrating Christmas.
It is on Christmas Eve, after the kids have gone to bed and the shopping and wrapping are over, that I remember Christmas Eve 1996, several hours after delivering KitKat, when I sat in the hospital holding my first little baby in my arms.
I thought back to the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus Christ….not necessarily about what he did later in his life, what that first night must have been like, when his mother, Mary, held him in her arms for the first time. Despite the miracle of his birth and his life, on that first Christmas morning, he was a baby in his mother’s arms.
My baby is no longer small. Instead of holding her and reflecting on the miracle and blessing of becoming a mother, the two of us got pedicures side by side.
I’m afraid I might prefer the pedicures to childbirth (and I think I may vote to make pedicures a birthday tradition from now on…).
Merry Christmas to all of my family, friends, and loyal readers. Have a wonderful holiday!
And just for fun….what was YOUR best gift ever?
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That’s so cool, Mary! I love that we have that in common! Happy birthday to your Christmas Eve daughter!
Small world. MY first child was also born on Christmas Eve – 1998 though. It is a unique experience to give birth and celebrate each birthday at Christmas time. I agree that my Christmas baby was the best present ever!