As hard as I tried to teach my boys the true meaning of Christmas this year I know the thing they enjoyed most was the gifts under the tree. Sara is still young enough to be enthralled by a midnight cuddle fest under the twinkle lights but what really matters to the boys is the loot. I know that I was the same way as a child. I would lay awake on Christmas Ever with great anticipation of the coming morning. Eventually I would fall asleep and wake up to Christmas morning. My sister and I would wake up my parents and we would dash to the tree looking for our loot. I was never disappointed. Santa and my parents always came through for us.
I reflected back on my childhood days while I searched for the perfect present for my boys. I wanted to create the perfect Christmas morning for them. I think I may have fallen short. I know they loved their presents but they are just things. Things that will eventually end up broken or tossed aside when the next wave of present giving comes around. There are a handful of gifts that they will play with for a long time but there is not anything long lasting in the pile of presents this year.
My favorite present I recieved as a child came the Christmas I was ten. I don't think anything can touch a little girls heart like a brand new pair of ice skates. The shiny silver blades glistened in the lights of the Christmas tree. They were perfectly white, still untouched by the scuffs that would come later. My mother had made a pair of pom poms to decorate the toes, as was the style back then. I imagined myself in a Dorothy Hamillesque position twirling across the ice.
The initial thrill of unwrapping my treasure was not the real gift I would recieve that year. The real gifts was the countless Saturdays my parents would spend taking us skating at the local Pee Wee hockey rink. I believe at the time the price to skate for an entire Saturday was 50 cents. We would get to the rink as soon as it opened and leave hours later, rosy cheeked and worn out. Sometimes we would go to the local pond and skate through a perfect winter wonderland but mostly we skated at the tiny rink in Troy.
I can't remember a Saturday that we did not skate that winter. Long after the tree was tossed in the recycling bin I enjoyed those skates. The first pair were replaced when I grew out of them over and over again. I am not sure how many pairs of skates I owned since that first pair. I know we still went skating as a family even when I was in college.I never competed in the Olympic Games. I never even had a lesson. I did gain something more valuable then a gold medal and a twirly costume. I enjoyed time with my family. I am not saying that I enjoyed every minute I spent with my family but the skating Saturdays were enjoyable momements. I can imagine that any parent of a teenager really treasures those few enjoyable moments. I can guarantee that the teenagers do. I still think about it on the rare occasions that I lace up a pair of skates. I can't say that about any other present I have opened on any other Christmas.
The gift of family time is what I really want to give my boys this holiday season and throughout the year. I don't think Skating Saturdays are going to be our thing. There is something out there for us to share. I just need to figure out what it is going to be.
