Here Comes Santa Claus...Right Down the Santa Train

Christmas Eve seems as good a time as any to finally post about our trip on the Santa Train.  The Santa Train is a local train that you ride on and there is someone singing carols and then Santa comes to visit.  It's fun for the kids and kind of makes an even out of seeing Santa.  

The first half of the trip we had a man singing carols and playing the guitar and another man playing the saxophone.  The Santa comes onto your train car and everyone takes a turn to go down and see him.  Santa was so nice and friendly.  He gave the boys a train whistle.  Parker asked for a flashlight for himself and a flashlight for Cooper. (He's been pretty consistent all season that all he wants is a flashlight, Santa has a pretty easy job this year.)

Moms Make the Magic

I love Christmas.  I love the day, I love the season.  It's magical.  But that magic has really changed since I became a mom.

When you are a kid, Christmas just happens.  You get to enjoy every second of it, stress free.  All these presents just appear, a meal is put on the table in front of you.  You come down on Christmas morning and the tree is pure magic.  As a mom though, it's now my responsibility to make that happen.  

I have been shopping for months.  December is full of all my usual responsibilities, plus extra parties, decorating the house, visits to Santa, cooking extra special meals, parades, wrapping presents, making sure that everyone on your list has a gift.  (It's not just Santa who makes his list and checks it twice.)  Moms have to make all of this happen, and it's a lot of pressure.  But I gladly do it, because I want Christmas to be a magical time for my kids, just like it was for me.  

Christmas is the one occasion that I think that all of the extra stress and pressure is worth it.  I love all of the traditions, even if it means that every weekend is packed from mid November until the end of December.  

So here's to all of the moms out there who are making Christmas magical for their entire families.  And here's to a relaxing January, with maybe a spa day thrown in there somewhere...