Ho, ho, holidays!

Ah, Christmas. This weekend we unpacked the fake tree from the attic, unwrapped the Santa Claus salt and pepper shakers and welcomed the season into our home.

I've always been a Christmas nut, although after I left college and entered "adulthood" the season began to lose its luster. It's almost as if making it through the holidays was becoming more of a chore and less of the carefree pleasure it once was.

But now Madeline's here and I'm discovering that there's no better way to reawaken those dormant holiday memories than to have a child of your own. Sure, she's a bit young to understand anything that's going on, but she sure knows that a glowing tree is fascinating to look at, that shiny ornaments are fun to grab, and that tearing wrapping paper can be the highlight of her day.

I know it's wrong to project your own expectations onto your child, but there's a part of me that hopes Madeline one day feels the same excitement about the season that I once felt. The only thing I can do is make sure her holidays are filled with family, fun and lots of gaudy lights and hope it catches on.

(I think Lacey, on the other hand, would prefer a month-long power outage every December over a husband AND a daughter who want to outline the roof in colored lights!)