I believe in Christ Jesus.
I believe that He is the reason for everything.
I believe that a Christmas tree does not look complete until wrapped presents are nestled underneath.
But I believe that family, not presents, make Christmas special.
I believe in family and tradition, which is why it’s not Christmas until my family arrives.
I believe that the anticipation of waiting for your family to arrive in town for Christmas must feel an awful lot like the ways kids feel when they’re waiting for Santa to arrive.
My children have the opportunity to believe in Santa Claus.
We believe that ear infections are a terrible Christmas tradition.
I believe that an old dog’s sweet eyes can cure a bad day, even if they can’t cure an ear infection.
I believe that it is terribly challenging to drive past a Chick-fil-A without stopping.
I believe this is made more difficult because of the cow-obsessed toddler in the backseat yelling, “Chick-a-lay!!”
I believe that Christmas leaves us too quickly every year. I’m tempted to bust out some Faith Hill’s “Where Are You, Christmas” on December 26.
I believe in turning Christmas into a magical day for my kids, even after they stop believing. (Is it appropriate to sing “Don’t Stop Believing” to a child who is questioning the believability of Santa Claus?)
I am sad that believing in something (or someone) you cannot see labels you anything other than “faithful.”
What do you believe in today? What keeps you moving amidst the chaos of this week?
“the opportunity to believe in Santa”
Isn’t it wonderful? A child’s ability to believe in someone so happy, loving and giving? To believe in something bigger than themselves? In something so FUN? I still believe! Something happens this time of year. Those small miracles of Christmas, with strangers paying for other strangers lay-away balances at K-Mart. That is Santa. Right there.
Merry Christmas!
AMEN!!! I believe in the gift of giving this Christmas to those who have lost hope. Merry Christmas, Erin!
I believe that Christmas is the most magical day of the year because of family and traditions. I can’t wait for Sunday!
Merry Christmas!
What a truly beautiful posting.
I believe in sweet friends. 🙂
I believe our world would be a much better place if people acted all year long, like they do at Christmas time. (a little more thankful, kind, joyous, etc.)
I believe having children during the Christmas season is the BEST thing ever. (Even though she won’t remember a thing, I will!)
and it wouldn’t be right to not post something from my sarcastic sense of humor…
I believe that people who don’t let their children believe in Santa should be arrested for child abuse. (Yeah, I said it. HA!)
xo
Well said!
I believe that God truly has a bigger plan for me than I have for myself.
I am right there with you, Erin! My little boy, Christopher (3 1/2), also woke up Saturday morning at 3 a.m. telling me his right ear was hurting. Off to the pediatrician we went later on that morning and sure enough, ear infection AND strep throat! ugh! Antibiotics to the rescue! Last year at this time, right before Xmas, he had pneumonia. These preschool years are BRUTAL! Hope you guys are all better by the time the jolly old man in the red suit visits your house! Merry Christmas to you & yours!!! 🙂
Such a good post. I’m growing tired of being made to feel like I’m less of a parent because my son believes in Santa. I’m growing tired of getting the comment, “You lie to your child?!?” I’m sorry but I never considered belief in Santa a lie. I believe there is a way to balance the true meaning of Christmas with all the fun and magic of Santa and gifts. I believe kids can believe in Santa and love Jesus. My parents did it with me, and we are doing it with our son. Thank you for this post (and now I’ll get off my soapbox). And I hope you are all feeling better asap.
LOVE the last one! We have been struggling whether or not to keep SANTA alive for our youngest after our oldest figured it out. It’s sad we feel judged by our christian brothers and sisters for enjoying this fun belief. Thanks!
I believe that the next time I drive by Chick Fil A, I am going to scream “Chick A Lay” because sometimes, you need to stop being a serious adult and just have fun and be silly.
I believe Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year… therefore all the craziness is worth it. I believe even though these next few days will exhaust me, I’ll be making irreplaceable memories with the ones I love most. I believe (and know for a fact) we won’t get this time back, so instead of stressing or complaining I should just enjoy it all to the fullest!! (And make tons of pictures!)
Growing up, we didn’t “do” santa and I don’t feel as if I missed out on anything. That’s why I don’t “do” santa with my boys. Granted, if my 2 year old wanted to tell me santa was coming I wouldn’t say no.
However, I don’t think I’m qualified to be arrested for child abuse.
My parents still give my siblings and me “Santa” gifts and stocking stuffers, so I still believe in the magic of Christmas!!
I believe in letting my kids get their hands (and the whole kitchen) dirty when I bake cookies.
I believe that saying “Merry Christmas” should be ok.
I believe that the time we spend with our kids on Christmas is much more valuable than the gifts under the tree!
I love this post so much. Everything about it. I believe that YOU are a wonderful mother! Merry Christmas to the Carroll Family!
Love this post and love you, friend!
Merry Christmas to your sweet family.
I love this post! I Believe that no matter how crazy the time leading up to Christmas is it all seems worth it when you are surrounded by your family on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.
I also Believe that this post has made me crave “Chick – A – Lay”. 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope that everyone starts feeling better by the weekend! xoxo
Sometimes I hate being an adult and knowing that these sort of issues exist. It makes me wish I could pause life when we believe and just leave it at that.
Nice post.
Merry Christmas!
I am so excited to share Christmas with my almost 5 year old. She believes in Santa and I think this is the first year she is really getting into it. Also, she says Chick-fil-A the same way as Hudson. I think it is so cute. And that is exactly what we are having for dinner tonight. They now have cute digital cow watches in the kid’s meals.
I’m not even a mom yet, but this whole movement I’ve read from other bloggers to “not ‘do’ Santa because it’s telling your child a ‘lie’ ” is RIDICULOUS. If you had Santa as a kid to help YOU create the magic of the season, WHY WHY WHY would you not want your children to have the same? I was raised with two religions, and even though I knew Santa wasn’t “real” at a young age, I still had fun pretending. It feels magical and wonderful, and I rest assured knowing that it won’t be my child marching into his or her kindergarten classroom announcing “SANTA IS NOT REAL” and crushing the dreams of his/her friends. Sigh.
Okay, I’m off my soap box! Thank you for not taking away the magic for your children!!!!
This is my first time to comment on your blog but I have been faithfully reading for a couple of months.
Amen to your post. I love it! As a mother of three (10 yr, 3 yr and 16 month old) I completely believe in maintaing the magical feel of Christmas and traditions forever… seriously!! I believe in letting children be kids and enjoying every minute of their precious lives… including, Santa, Christmas and our Lord and Savior!!!
Great post girl and have a magical Merry Christmas!!!
I believe this is one of my all time favorite posts (so far)!
Very sweet. I believe in love. I believe everyone is capable of it…
I believe in the absolute magic of Christmas.
I believe that the Blue Eyed Bride will continue to inspire, encourage, entertain, sustain, inform, and delight me in the new year.
And I most definitely believe in Chick-fil-A!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Erin . . . you are a most wonderful mother and wife and daughter and friend.
I believe in Santa and I am 32 years old. My parents told me that the day I stopped believing, we would stop getting presents. My husband never had Santa growing up, and it is a stress point while raising our daughter. However, I believe God has softened his heart because I gave him some info on St. Nick and who he was as a person. It is the tradition that makes it a part of Christmas. He he is slowly coming around to the idea. It is okay to believe in someone who is so caring and giving. He was a real person and considered a saint.
I believe that I could eat chick-fil-a everyday if I could. I love their philosophy of morals for their workers and their food is just that good. Mmmm….Peppermint milkshake sounds good right now.
I believe in listening to Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving and singing it until New Years. I just don’t want to put it away.
I believe in secret internet friends like you Erin, that God has placed out there for all of us moms to relate to, cry and laugh with, and seek advice from.
Merry Christmas.
Love this post! Where would we be without things to believe in even if we can’t always see them. I BELIEVE in family making the holidays so special and being extra thankful for our loved ones.
This is a great post! My husband and I haven’t decided on whether we will fully celebrate the Santa story in our home, but we will certainly get Santa pictures each year and talk about what a wonderful man St. Nick really was. This blog by Pastor Mark Driscoll is a great explanation on why a Christian might NOT want to fully receive the Santa story. http://blog.marshill.com/2010/12/13/what-we-tell-our-kids-about-santa-pastor-mark-for-the-washington-post/
Either way, Christmas is such a magical time for children (and adults, let’s be honest)! I’m excited to start our own traditions with our sweet baby boy, Julian.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I struggle with the Santa thing. I’ll go against the grain here. We do Santa. But I never wanted to. My husband did. My kids are 6, 5, and 2. And the compromise I’ve come up with is to not make Santa a big deal. He doesn’t give the big gifts or anything. And my feelings come from my own childhood–which I think is where most of us come from when we make parenting choices. We parent based on our own experiences. Anyway, my parents made a BIG deal about Santa. They were SO elaborate with the “magic”. His beard was caught in our fireplace screen, his footprints were everywhere. He left a trail of crumbs, etc. And when I asked if he was real, my parents INSISTED that he was. And I believed them. To the point that I believed… truly believed.. for a ridiculously long time. And when it finally came out that he wasn’t real, I was told in a “Seriously? You didn’t figure it out?” kind of way. And I felt really stupid for having faith. And really lied to.
And that’s my only thing… I definitely don’t judge parents who go full-on with Santa. I think that’s fun! I just worry, because of the crazy way I felt when I found out, that I’ll lose credibility with my kids. Thankfully my husband balances me out because he has far fewer issues than I do. 😉 We’ve agreed to not go to extremes to foster the deception. And we’ve agreed to be truthful when asked. Although I know that even that makes us grinches to a lot of people.
I just want to transition him out in a way where they understand that Santa and stockings is a game like the Easter bunny and the eggs.
Great post!
I believe that tomorrow is a new day and that I can start over again.
Rough day here. Sick baby and less-than-patient mommy.
I also believe I love this post.
Merry Christmas!
Amen! Oh, and in my family, the kids all say Chick-fi-way 🙂
I believe that adding green sparkles to my red toes is appropriate…. Even for 30 somethings!!!! Just because my daughters want my toes to match theirs!!!!
Great post E! GREAT!
I believe that God i so much bigger than we give Him credit for. I believe His mighty powers stretch beyond what we can imagine!
This is amazing. You are so good with words and we all know how I am with words. 😉 Merry Christmas! xoxoxo
I loved this post. Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing with us on your blog.
I’m in my late twenties and I still believe in Santa 😉 Also- Christmas should last all year long!
If it makes you feel any better, my 2 year old has been sick since 4 a.m. LAST Wednesday. Woke up throwing up, then passed it to me, and then FINALLY to my 10 year old. Thankfully my husband was spared. Then he started with a cough and runny nose. Brought him to the doctor on Monday a.m. and she said it was “VIRAL”. No strep…no pneumonia (after xray). VIRAL is a word that I don’t like only 5 days prior to Christmas. Woke up this morning praying for a turn in the corner and for wellness to come to us soon. He started SCREAMING, “my ear hurts!” The child has had TWO ear infections in almost 3 years. The last one was at 9 months which was 2 years ago! So, we loaded up and went BACK to doctor this a.m. He does have an ear infection! Hey, at least now I have an antibiotic, right? Also, I can’t drive past a chick-fil-a either! It’s a sickness!!! Merry Christmas!
Well *I* Believe that Christmas Eve night it the absolute best night of the year. So much magic and belief is in the air, and the look on the kids Faces when they see that Santa has been by to drop off special Christmas PJ’s is a great start.
I wish people would respect other peoples wishes regarding Santa. So what if you dont do it with your kids and others do and visa versa. ( We will go under the Santa is real, and the reason he does what he does is because of his love for Children and he does it on Christmas because he wanted to show Christ’s love for us. When they get older and ask we will admitt to playing Santa, but stress that its a tradition started by a real person and we are to spread his mission of Love to Children and ‘reqruit’ them into spreading that love themselves ) Its such a personal decission, but not one that should be judged by others.
“Is it appropriate to sing “Don’t Stop Believing” to a child who is questioning the believability of Santa Claus?” – I was never one to believe in Santa Claus {and I don’t have kids}, but this made me laugh out loud.
I love this, and DITTO to all of it!