What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

 

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

I would say less than 30 minutes after we opened all our presents and unstuffed our stockings I made a very interesting observation. 

 The girls had wondered out of the living room leaving everything that santa had brought them.  The new legos, dolls, candy and even the SPARKLY microphone had been abandoned. 

Here is what I found....

Dottie playing with the circa 2002 travel tetris game.  

She loves the robot jingle it plays and shakes her little bootie until it stops then she holds it up to you and grunts until you press the "start" button again.

And Mary Margo playing with her kitchen that she has had for years.  

She doesn't really play with it much anymore....to the point that I have considered taking it out of her room.  

But Christmas morning she found it to be lots of fun.  She even took parts from the doll house (that she has NEVER played with) and made "popsicles" for us.

She is sporting the new rain jacket I randomly purchased a few days before Christmas.  It was one of those "I saw it - she needs it - I will wrap it just because it's Christmas time" kinda purchases.

Then I spotted Dottie wobbling down the hall not with her new baby doll santa brought but with "little baby"  Mary Margo's doll that is never clothed and has 5 years of dirt on her little cloth body.

Christmas does mean SO MUCH more.
I am so thankful for all my many blessing and I am most thankful for this small pause in the day to realize what really matters.

Santa was very nice to bring all those new shiny toys but at the end of the day all we really need is the love of family and each other.
The "old dirty worn out" toys or the "barely even played with" toys are just as wonderful.

My hope is that everyone had a pause in the very hectic week we call Christmas to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


And just for the record the girls did eventually get back to the new toys. : )