Grateful at Christmas Time

Since my trip to Bulgaria, Christmas time has always gotten me a little teary-eyed thinking of those less fortunate than me.  I have had a lot of experience dealing with children who had nothing.  My time working at the mother's drug rehabilitation center introduced me to children who, at times, had no one in their life to give them a hug but the staff.  Their mothers were undergoing intense counseling sessions in order to prove to the court system that they should regain custody of their children after losing them for drug/alcohol abuse.  It was often a sad situation and my heart broke every day for the kids.  Of course, my volunteer work in Bulgaria showed me a world I had never seen before.  Most of the children I saw weren't actually orphans, but children whose parents couldn't care for them, so they were abandoned.  I was so happy that even though these kids didn't have much, they still loved Christmas and getting into the spirit of the holiday.

I've been reading lots of stories on blogs about the kindness people show at Christmas and read one in particular about a woman receiving a Target gift card from a stranger allowing her to buy toilet paper and a ball for her son for Christmas.  When I read this story I cried like a baby.  I could blame it on hormones, but I really think it is because the children I have been in contact with over the years--and now Audrey--have given me a new perspective of Christmas and what it is all about.  There are so many people who struggle to provide their families with things as simple as toilet paper and here I sit in my house with tons of presents under the tree for my 6-month-old who won't care much about Christmas this year and won't remember a bit of it. 

I don't want to turn Christmas into a big guilt-trip, but I like to use my experiences as reminders to myself that there is more to the holidays than gifts, and to remember how incredibly lucky I am to have the life I do.  I am so excited for Audrey to experience her first Christmas.  It's so fun for us as parents to see her experience new things.  I know she'll love the toys she's getting from her grandparents (and us, but we only got her one "toy", haha).  We'll take lots of pictures and give her extra snuggles on Tony's day off.  I'm so excited!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday celebrations with family and friends!  Be safe! :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa, 

and a Happy New Year 

to all of my lovely friends and family!