Remember those wonderful moments when your children were small and the excitement in their eyes shined bright as they flipped through one of the colorful catalogs that came out at Christmas? When my daughter was little, we always received the good old Sears Wishbook, maybe even Penneys. Now, those are long gone (I think) and have been replaced by the Toys R Us booklet that comes out way before Thanksgiving and of course, the newspaper ads. I can remember my daughter, laying on her tummy on the living room floor, feet in the air, pieces of torn paper in a pile next to her, and the bright, colorful and very enticing copy of the Sears Wish Book opened up in front of her. By the time she finished marking all of the pages, the book easily gained an extra couple of pounds. I remember one of her big favorites was anything and everything to do with My Little Pony. I especially remember one Christmas when Santa delivered a Disney World Main Street USA play set that had those 3 horrid letters on the box that strike terror into the heart of every parent - SAR! My husband still trembles at the thought of assembly tasks that lasted to nearly dawn, sore fingers from plastic push pins and aggravation due to missing parts. Some Assembly Required - honestly, now, I think I would gladly pay someone else to handle the task. I don't think I have the patience for that anymore and I know my poor husband doesn't. Pink ponies, purple saddles and dress ups were all part of our little girl's dream world then (actually, they still are!).
When our son was born, he went straight from crib toys and stuffed animals to video games on the original Nintendo and eventually, the anime type items and, now, many years later, we're still in that mode. He never really liked the big fancy yellow Tonka trucks that he received, or the remote control goodies that ended up in the hands of my husband. Instead, he was tuned into electronic themed entertainment from early on. Most of them were the high tech goodies that required lots of hand eye coordination and intense concentration.
Gadgets and gizmos rapidly took over his young world. He still has some of them. One set I remember very well was something called Beyblades. They were these really unusual looking tops that all had crazy names and wild paint jobs. Some had been designed to do different types of spins and "attacks". There were plastic stadiums for competitions that literally cost more than the crazy tops and they were nothing more than vac formed plastic! Insane! 
However, those brightly colored tops kept him entertained for hours. He still has most of them. But at the age of 20, they have been neatly tucked away into storage boxes and have taken a back seat to mmorpg's (yay...got it right and for those of you that don't understand that mass of letters, it means multi member online role playing games...ie, World of Warcraft), and the latest, greatest video game for who knows what system, (because we have them all!!!) He collects Sonic comic books, usually buys 2 of each issue, one to read and one to neatly slip into a plastic sleeve to save for posterity. If he likes a game, he can tell you anything and everything about the game, the designer, the voice actors, the composer of the music, and so on and so on and so on. Some, no, actually, most of the names are Japanese and he routinely corrects me on their pronunciation and gives me the evil eye if I look at him and just say "wha what or who?". Too much info for my brain to take in. I have enough to remember with the everyday things.
However, those brightly colored tops kept him entertained for hours. He still has most of them. But at the age of 20, they have been neatly tucked away into storage boxes and have taken a back seat to mmorpg's (yay...got it right and for those of you that don't understand that mass of letters, it means multi member online role playing games...ie, World of Warcraft), and the latest, greatest video game for who knows what system, (because we have them all!!!) He collects Sonic comic books, usually buys 2 of each issue, one to read and one to neatly slip into a plastic sleeve to save for posterity. If he likes a game, he can tell you anything and everything about the game, the designer, the voice actors, the composer of the music, and so on and so on and so on. Some, no, actually, most of the names are Japanese and he routinely corrects me on their pronunciation and gives me the evil eye if I look at him and just say "wha what or who?". Too much info for my brain to take in. I have enough to remember with the everyday things.Signs of the times, the world really does seem to progressing at a much more rapid pace now. Keeping up with it just leaves me exhausted some days. Anyone agree with me on that?
So, here we are, Wednesday, December 7th, 2011. Today is the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. No, I am not that old, but I did study it in school and I do know what it is. I'm not even sure it's in text books anymore. They seem to discount a lot of historical events as impertinent to events of today. Such a shame.
Back to Christmas, sorry, chasing rabbits again. Pearl Harbor aside, we are now also 18 days from yet another commercialized Christmas. I've had my fill of Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays and crowds at the mall. I'm over it, but 3 weeks ago, my daughter shared a special wish with me, that I am now calling her Grown Up Christmas List. After years of letting that inner kid come out and present her family with a list that was very similar to that old Sear's Wish Book with all of the torn paper page markers, I am so proud of the words that came from her mouth. "Mom, I wish we could convince everyone to take all of that money spent on those gifts and turn it into helping people. I wish we could give a donation to a childrens' organization or homeless shelter in the names of everyone we buy Christmas gifts for. We don't need anything, but there are people that do." I nearly cried, and from those words that flowed with passion from her heart, we had a conversation that left no doubt, that in spite of those rough and tumble teenage years, and the "I'm over 21 and a grown up" years, she listened, she learned, she became so compassionate, that she literally glowed when she talked about what she wanted to do. I'm so proud of her, so very proud of her. My son is the same way, he will take the last dollar, the last quarter he has, and put it in the red kettle at the grocery or the mall. They have both grown up, they have both seen beyond their "wants" and realized that the "needs" of others just might be more important than spending their money on a new CD or video game or pair of ridiculously overpriced jeans. Yippee! I raised real people! Compassionate, loving, feeling, concerned people. Thank you God for helping us do this right! Thank you for my two beautiful, caring, talented, gifted special kids. The best part of all is that now, they are not only still blessing Mom and Dad and the rest of the family, but they have reached beyond their comfort zone and are beginning to bless those that they don't know.
Friends, I've had such a wonderful week. My encounter with the old man last week, the craziness of the geysers in my kitchen, a birthday that will go down in the record books as one of the best, and the pride and joy that my now grown up children have brought to me.
It's such a neat feeling to know that your child learned how to spell their name or count to 100. It's a feeling that I can't even describe to see them turn into "grown ups", "people" and know that they have reached the point in their lives, that taking on the world is not a video game or gossiping on Facebook. It's knowing that they have figured out this whole thing and are now looking at that Christmas Wish Book from an entirely different perspective.
Kids, I love you both so much. You have both made your momma very, very proud. Change the world, one quarter, one random act of kindness at a time. Share your grown up Christmas Lists with the world and don't be afraid to make them happen...
Okay, so the rest of you already figured out that I'm a proud momma. I know that you are proud of your kids too. No matter what age they are, set an example for them. Teach them about those Grown Up Christmas Lists. Teach them that there is more to the 25th of December than just new toys, new clothes. Teach them the reason for the season! Christ was born in Bethlehem, a tiny baby born into a cold world, 10 tiny fingers, 10 tiny toes, born to wear a crown of thorns. Born to give us the ultimate Christmas gift, His life for our salvation. Teach them to care, teach them to love, teach them to feel, teach them to be joyous, but also to weep. Teach them to give thanks, to share, to give.
Merry Christmas everyone. God loves you, Jesus lives within each of us that have claimed Him as our Lord and Savior. He is in our hearts, let others see Him through our actions.
Now, go write down your own Grown Up Christmas list and see if there is room to squeeze in a couple of extras. You might just open a heart, restore faith, give life, in the process.
Love you all, God bless you and keep you. Merry Christmas!
Kaye
Enjoy!
