three hundred and fifty three

Our visit to see Santa at Papa’s work today was cool and all, but what the girls were really interested in was how the distribution center works.

To the chagrin of store cashiers and random adults, these girls are not all that interested in Santa. When asked, “Who’s coming soon?” they will enthusiastically answer, “UNCLE COREY!” They have no list of popular toys that they expect to see under the tree. They do not worry that their behavior will earn them nothing but coal.

We have been expecting Christmas slowly this year. We have one ‘real’ advent calendar and several home made ones that help count down the days. We’ve been reading Christmas stories and The Christmas Story. We have been making gifts and buying gifts and making wrapping paper. We’ve been telling stories of Christmases past and retelling stories of ornaments and decorations and remembering fondly the people those memories evoke.

And we’ve been living our regular, non-Christmas life. Even in December. We’ve hit the museum. We’ve skated. We’ve watched endless episodes of Fetch with Ruff Ruffman and the Electric Company. We continue to wait for Papa to come home from work and we go on with our daily routines.

This December has been one of quiet regularity, with the excitement of waiting for Christmas sprinkled in. Christmas is hoped for and eagerly anticipated, but it has not taken over our month.

The girls smiled with Santa and thanked him politely for their gifts, but he was only one small moment in their day’s explorations.