OPINION: A look at Christmas in the Pabis household

He also wondered how Santa would get down the chimney, and I told him not to worry – Santa would find a way. I said he uses a bit of magic.

That’s not a lie, is it? Because as a mother of a four-yearold and 15-monthold, I’m feeling a lot of magic in our house this year.

Despite the handso n-everything 15-month-old, my 4-year-old and I have managed to string popcorn and Frosted Os for garland on the tree. (Let me tell you – stringing popcorn is for the birds.) We made some snowflake ornaments for the tree and a small wreath for our front door. We’ve done a little baking too.

Other than these things, I have kept our Christmas preparations and decorations to a minimum. I’m just not the type of person who goes all out for anything, though if I had the time and money, I’d probably do more. I imagine when my boys are older, we’ll be able to accomplish more together.

For now, however, the baby is content with whatever we do, and all the four-year-old cares about is what Santa might bring him. Earlier in the month, we wrote Santa a letter. My son dictated it, I wrote it, and then I made him sign his name.

A little bird told me that if I include return postage, Santa might write us back, and to our delight, he did! He thanked us for the letter and wrote a sweet poem, so my four-year-old is expecting to get just what he asked for. His main requests were a swordfish, a soft dragon, and a jet. Quite a mix, don’t you think?

What four-year-old would ask for a swordfish? (He made sure I understood that he wanted a toy swordfish — not a real one. I appreciated that.) He loves ocean animals, and his reason for wanting a swordfish was because he doesn’t have one. Pretty logical if you ask me.

Unfortunately, a toy swordfish is hard to come by. I can see how toy manufacturers might think a swordfish could pose a possible hazard since it has a SWORD on it. Needless to say, I’m very curious to see what Santa comes up with.

As you can see, we’re looking forward to Christmas this year. We have the added treat of having my nephew join us. He’s 23-years-old and taking a solo-driving trip around the U.S. I’m glad he’ll be coming by here for the holidays because it’ll be great fun for my boys to share the day with someone else and meet their cousin for the first time.

I’m hoping each of you have a wonderful Christmas, New Year’s, Kwanzaa or whatever holiday(s) you might be celebrating this year. May peace find you wherever you are.

Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can send comments about this column to shelli@mamaofletters.com.