On the tenth day after Christmas . . .

With the dismantling of our Christmas tree this afternoon, the Shade family’s Christmas of 2013 will be history. All that’s left of the Christmas cookies are the crumbs, so before the tree comes down, here are reflections on Christmas 2013.

This was my second Christmas without the responsibility of kettle bells and toy collections that define a Salvation Army Christmas, my adult experience of the Christmas season. Old habits die hard, but I made it through without ringing a bell for old time’s sake, although I did lend a hand to the toy distribution and hosted a cookie decorating party for the shelter residents in Wooster. I was thrilled to discover that sugar cookie dough could be purchased in frozen, pre-shaped stars, bells and trees. While I truly love my buttermilk-flavored sugar cookie recipe, making cut-outs with ten small children is not my idea of a good time, and the trip to GFS preserved my sanity for one more day and gave a glimpse of a Christmas tradition to my homeless friends.

The concept of the various holidays is difficult for the little ones to understand, and the lovely Madelyn Simone keeps asking me if we can go trick-or-treating, and wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner on the 25^th of December. She loves the songs of Christmas, so we’ll sing those from time to time throughout the year, especially when we “need a little Christmas, right this very minute.”

While the snow fell around us this week, Madelyn and I went to see the movie Frozen, an appropriate choice for a chilly day. When we got home, we talked about the characters in the movie, the fearful Elsa, the feisty Anna, and the endearing snowman, Olaf. When I asked her who Kristoff’s reindeer was, she piped up, “Rudolph the nosed reindeer!” Good answer, Madelyn.

Here’s one of my pressing questions of Christmas: does replacing a bulb in the string of miniature lights ever work? When I finally dragged the decorations out of the basement, I had at least ten strands of lights, each with a darkened section. No matter what I tried with those tiny replacement bulbs, I had no success. Note to self – do not pack those lights away this afternoon – discard them – you won’t fix them next year either.

Then there is the challenge of asking family members what they want for Christmas. When Madelyn and I watched Bubble Guppies on television, the alluring commercials elicited the hoped-for response from my three-year-old consumer-to-be: “I want one of those.” But once the television was turned off, I’d ask her what she wanted for Christmas and she’d respond, “a whistle.” Where did that come from? Unaware of her request, her grandfather picked up a railroad whistle for her when visiting his sister in Kansas, and so Madelyn received the gift of her dreams on Christmas morning. Go figure.

One lesson I need to remember for the future is to stay out of the stores the week before Christmas. My willpower isn’t what it should be, and so when I run in to pick up just one more item on my list, I end up with one or two other gifts that I just couldn’t pass up. My son Drew asked me to get something for his sister-in-law at the mall on Christmas Eve, as I worked in Cleveland that morning and passed Strongsville on my way home. Against my better judgment, I agreed to help him out. While there, I remembered that Larry had asked for pajamas for Christmas, and I hadn’t even looked for them. An hour later, I’d determined that JC Penney, Sears and Macys carried tons of pajama pants, but I only located one stack of small, old-fashioned, button-down-the front pajamas, on sale for $24. Really? If real men eat quiche, don’t real men wear pajamas – in sizes bigger than small?

Pajamas, reindeer, whistles and cookies are images of my precious moments for 2013. As Dave reminds Big Bird on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, “These precious moments, hold them very dear and keep Christmas with you all through the year.” Savor a few of your own special moments before the pine needles are banished until next year.