The magic of the holidays that we so desperately long for, is right there waiting for us, if we are present and slow down to find it.
It has nothing to do with gifts. It is all about being with our loved ones, and having gratitude. Gratitude changes everything.
I have found the magic of the holidays multiple times this season. The other day it was in the pantry.
Gray came running to me and with a sparkle in his eyes, he excitedly said in his sweet 3 year old voice: “Mama, come in the pantry with me!”
Instead of telling him that I was busy doing something else right then, or not seeing the moment that it could be, I saw the sparkle in his eye and I heard his tone. He wanted me there. Whatever it was, was important to him, and he wanted me to be a part of the excitement with him! It did not matter what it was, because I wanted to be a part of whatever was so important to him.
So I excitedly told him: “OK!”
I grabbed his hand, and we ran in the panty! He closed the door behind us, and with joy leaping out of him, he took me over to stare at all the baking ingredients that we had gotten the night before, for all the things we would be making this season.
As we shopped the night before, I would put something in the cart and he would ask me about it. He wanted to know what each thing was for.
He had helped me unload it all after we got home from shopping, and he piled them all in one area of the pantry. Nothing organized about them to an adult, but he chose to carefully pile them together on a shelf, waiting for our family to create magic with them!
There we were the next day, standing together in the pantry, holding hands, tears of joy welling in my eyes, staring at the shelf of ingredients. One by one he asked me what things were, told me what other things were, and started pulling bags off the shelf to see them more closely.
At one point he grabbed the marshmallows. As he held the bag, I told him that they were magic, and I knew how to make them grow. I asked if he wanted to see and he could hardly contain himself! His eyes got big, and his smile even bigger, as I pulled the big chair up for him to watch the marshmallow grow.
Then we took the warm marshmallow and together we shared it, and then ran back in the pantry. I put Christmas music on and through the day we spent time together in the pantry snuggled up, surrounded by all the magical ingredients that we will be using to make treats together this season.
It is so easy to get caught up in having to have a perfect holiday season, focusing on stuff, rushing around, and trying to do it all, stressing over making the season magical… the magic is already there. If we slow down, and take time to be present and connect, we will find the magic. It is waiting for us.
The other day I found the magic of Christmas in the pantry with Gray!
