day-52

Honestly, the only reason why I became excited about the holidays again is my son Nicolas. After I moved to the US 10 years ago I never thought I would be able to enjoy Christmas again, being so far away from my family in Germany. In fact, I wouldn’t even decorate our house many years and almost pulled an Ebenezer Scrooge one year . When I got pregnant though it suddenly changed and during my first Christmas as expecting mom our home started to see some subtle decorating and even a Christmas tree. Then N was born in 2011 and that was the year I fully embraced Christmas again. It must be because I now have a little family of my own that I can share the joy with, but mostly because through my kids’ eyes I can see Christmas again just the way I did when I was a child.

That would probably also explain why today I couldn’t get to the mall fast enough to see Santa’s arrival. Yes, it was early, it’s only November 8th, and yes, it was odd, Santa arrived in a red convertible, but hey, he did arrive and the kids were excited and there was story time, milk & cookies and Christmas caroling and for just a little moment we all forgot how hectic the next weeks will probably be and remembered how beautiful the holidays truly are. And this year is even more special for me because it will be my youngest, Lukas’, first Christmas. I see lots of awkward Santa pics in our future 😉