The Littles

TraceyM

TraceyM

Sweet Shoppe Designer
Who else especially misses their kids are 'littles' over the holiday season. The year my daughter learned Santa was really mommy & daddy was so sad for me. She had a lot of questions for me that day. "Mom, where did Black & White Dog (retired Webkin) come from if Santa didn't bring him?" Why Ebay of course I replied. It was an idiot receptionist at the chiropractor's office who let the cat out of the bag.
 
Michelle is still little, but I am pretty sure she does not believe that the gifts under the tree is from Santa. Haha...
Michael was so sad when he found out that Santa is papa & mama here... he asked me about it and he insisted that I answered it honestly. So... yeah I broke his heart with honesty. Being a parent is so hard.
 
I do for sure. While it was a TON of work for me and I kicked myself for starting it every year- our elf on the shelf "blue eyes" would bring an advent card every day with some sort of holiday activity. Sometimes it was just 'read a christmas book' or 'have hot cocoa with dinner' on our busier days, but I feel like it forced us into doing a lot of the holiday activities that we miss now. My 16 yr old daughter actually said she misses blue eyes & his advent- so maybe next year (her senior year- last year at home likely) I'll pull it back out just for funsies. We do still do some of the bigger activities, but now they aren't as thrilled to have their photos taken all the time for me to scrap! ;)

I think she was in 4th grade when I had "santa" bring her a letter explaining that there was no Santa in the terms that kids think about but how we are ALL Santa in that we spread holiday cheer and that we can believe or have faith in things that we cannot see. I also wrote in it how important it is to not spoil it for other kids or her brother and that she is now part of the Santa traditions. I gave the same letter to my son a few years later.
 
We never really did Santa here, so that part I don't miss. I do miss shopping for little kid toys! Going to Toys R Us was the best! Now, their toys are bigger and more expensive (phone, ipad, computer, etc).

I don't miss having to hide all or most of the gifts until Christmas Eve. While we didn't do Santa, we also didn't put all of the gifts out right away. It is so nice to just wrap a gift and stick it under the tree now! Our house does not have the best hiding places! I found out a few years ago that my girls snooped when they were little and had found some of their unwrapped gifts! Oops!
 
I do miss it! Such a magical time. I remember saying things like: Did you hear those reindeer making all that racket up on the roof?" and she'd say " yes, I heard it!"
 
Yes, I definitely miss those days. My kids are 20, 17, and 14 and are not really into Christmas like before. The two older ones have a boyfriend/girlfriend and would much rather be with them than their parents. The kids' Christmas tree was up for almost a month before my two boys finally put their ornaments on the tree. I wrapped a few presents and put them under the tree already which is a first for me. I usually hide everything and don't bring them out til Christmas Eve. My 17-year-old son did put up a lot of Christmas lights outside, so I'm thankful he is still into that! Shopping for gifts is definitely not as fun. I miss the Disney dolls, the Little People, and Tonka trucks they would be excited to get when they were little. We always used to look at lights together and go to t he local greenhouses to see their Christmas displays and see Santa & Mrs. Claus, but those days are gone, too. It is kind of sad, isn't it? It was a lot of work to keep the secret of Santa, but I do miss it.
 
We were at our kids' Christmas play at church last night and I was just lamenting to my best friend how our kiddos used to fit in those little kids' costumes. Now they're all in the middle and high school youth choirs.
 
I so relate to all your thoughts and how we tend to miss what had at one time sometimes frustrated us. LOL. A lesson to be learned there for sure. Honestly, I loved spoiling my girl every year. Heck, I still do. For the record, she'll be 25 towards the end of January!!!
 
Me. My kids don't even care if I put up a tree. So, unless my husband drags it out, I don't care either.
I miss the Christmases when my grandparents were alive. We all flocked to their house with all of their kids and grandkids and our kids. Those were the best years. Now that they are both gone, the individual families do their own things and it just isn't the same. I miss the chaos (and the grandparents).
 
carrie1977 said:
Me. My kids don't even care if I put up a tree. So, unless my husband drags it out, I don't care either.
I miss the Christmases when my grandparents were alive. We all flocked to their house with all of their kids and grandkids and our kids. Those were the best years. Now that they are both gone, the individual families do their own things and it just isn't the same. I miss the chaos (and the grandparents).
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I miss my gatherings at my grandparent too, so very much. I am always emotional this time of year about missing my grandmother especially because she loved Christmas so much. So many of the traditions and recipes I share with my kids are from her. She passed when they were really little, so they don't remember her like I do which breaks my heart. She helped raise me, so we were really close. We still do the Christmas eve gathering like she used to, but like you said, it's just not the same. Hugs to you, I feel your pain.
 
My eldest believed in Santa until he was about 7. Of course, as soon as he realized there was no Santa, he broke the news to his younger brother, who was 5. Since the youngest was only 1 at the time, they both decided they would play along with the Santa story until he was older. I was grateful for that. My granddaughter is 7 now, and last year, she told me that only one present comes from Santa, and the rest are from family.
 
3BluEyedBabi said:
I miss my gatherings at my grandparent too, so very much. I am always emotional this time of year about missing my grandmother especially because she loved Christmas so much. So many of the traditions and recipes I share with my kids are from her. She passed when they were really little, so they don't remember her like I do which breaks my heart. She helped raise me, so we were really close. We still do the Christmas eve gathering like she used to, but like you said, it's just not the same. Hugs to you, I feel your pain.
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Gah...now I'm tears at work (not your fault...grief is weird). I wish my kids had more years with them, too. My grandpa had Alzheimers so they really only remember him like that. They still loved him though. I would give anything to just have one more chaotic Christmas. Big hugs to you, too!
 
I'm lucky - my son is 17 and still very much into traditions and I will get called out if we don't do certain things. As for learning about Santa... I just assumed that he knew there wasn't one when he was like 4... he was always very analytical about things. So imagine my surprise when he was 14 and I made some comment about not being real... geez, you would have thought I destroyed his favorite toy. oops. Joys of homeschooling and being able to keep him little as long as possible... and we always stressed how other families have their own traditions and if anything is said... we were in homeschool groups that many families had nothing to do with santa.
 
I honestly can't remember when Olivia and Daniel learned about Santa not being real.

We never had Santa bring all the gifts. He would bring one gift that was left by the stockings, and it was never wrapped. So I don't think it was a big deal for the kiddos.

I'm probably the odd man out, but I'm perfectly happy with older children and not having to go to umpteen different places at the holidays. But I've always tried to enjoy the place where my children are and just enjoy the past memories in our Christmas Memories book and in my layouts.
 
i'm another one that misses when my grandparents were still alive. they were like the family glue.

the last communication i had with my dad was christmas, so that's got me a little down, too. (he passed february 2nd of this year.)
 
laurabobaura said:
i'm another one that misses when my grandparents were still alive. they were like the family glue.

the last communication i had with my dad was christmas, so that's got me a little down, too. (he passed february 2nd of this year.)
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Sending you love and hugs. This time of year is hard, especially when we've just lost loved ones. Every day it feels like I'm slogging through sludge, but I just think about my Mama and what she would want me doing with my time, and it would most assuredly not be moping and crying and taking to the bed. And while I want to please her, just as I did when she was still here, there are days (like today in fact) that I just sat in my chair, staring into thin air, wondering how I was going to pull it together for my sister and my children and my husband. I don't want to pretend, but I do want to be thankful for what I do have right now, as none of us are promised tomorrow.

Geez, I'm sorry Elle Bea. I guess I needed to type that out. Maybe something in there will resonate with you or give you some way to navigate the coming days.

Love you, friend.
 
Me. I miss mine being little... I did have one of my girls tell me that she was so happy with all the wonderful joyous things we did and her "magical"memories from Christmas' past.
I still do all my decorating, it's for me too. We only have one living at home full time now... one is married, another has an apartment, one is usually away at grad school or her boyfriends house and just my baby is here... but even he at 20 is usually out...
I do have my daycare littles to keep me on my toes and crafting but it's not the same..... maybe there will be a grand baby soon....
 
I miss my kids (49 & 50) and my grandkids (19, 28, 29 & 30) being little, but I am very lucky that my local GK (19/28/29) still come over Christmas morning for breakfast, stockings and presents.

My 28 y.o. granddaughter still believes in Santa ...

My grandparents are all long gone, but my 96 y.o. father is still with us, and my extended family still gathers on T'giving and Christmas Day ... sisters, BILs, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
 
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