Christmas Day

Is there anything better as a parent than see utter delight on your child's face? I love making my kids happy! I never knew how hard it would be to not spoil them rotten.

"The best thing you can do for your child is say 'no'" is a tough adage to put into practice sometimes! (Don't worry I tend to counter balance it with the times I am feeling ornery enough to say it too often.)

Christmas is so fun with kids! It is heart melting and gratifying to see the excitement and joy thrill through their little bodies!
The boys got up about 6:30, as usual. Chris and I got up and met them since Sage was still sleeping peacefully. We made chocolate milk and moved the presents down to the playroom so Sage would keep sleeping peacefully (I prefer my children to be well rested. We are all happier that way.)

The first thrill (and it wasn't entirely comfortable) came when Chris announces that we will be opening gifts in order of age, youngest to oldest, just like his family does. Whoa, what a not cool way to be reminded that you are the oldest one living in your house (or in the case of Chris' family, the oldest of the children and in-laws!).

Not to worry, I gracefully declined my position in the opening line and the boys happily skipped me each time.

As I have previously mentioned on this blog, expectations seem to make or break us in this family. I do realize that in the not-to-distant future I will have to start warning my kids that they won't get everything they ask for, but for now, we are able to handle the demand (their list was pretty short) and are happy to do so since we get such a kick out of happy kids!

This year, they both wanted an excavator and a Mac (from Cars) truck. They were ecstatic to see these come out of the paper.
From grandparents they got puzzles and magnet trucks that were also much, much loved.



And yes, everything came in sets of two-one for Ian and one for Noah. (We finally bit the bullet and decided that variety is not always the spice of life, sometimes it the bane of a parent's existence!)
It was a very merry Christmas for all as the boys spent the rest of the day playing happily with new toys!