Mamacita says:  Don’t tell anybody, but I’m only pretending to be upset that all the stores are getting ready for Christmas.  Yes, it’s too early.  Yes, Thanksgiving really does deserve some undivided attention.  Etc. The fact is, I love Christmas, and even more than Christmas, I love preparing for Christmas.  This entails far more than decorations.  As parents, we must also prepare the mind.

Yes, it’s too early.  Far too early.

But there will always be that part of me that loves to see all the twinkling lights and all the new Christmas toys, and walk up and down displays that ask me to push buttons and watch elves that don’t look like Dobby dance.  Part of me screams, “The world has gone mad, why so early?” And the rest of me answers, “Because.

I’m always so sorry for children who have to grow up in a home without wonder.  I am a firm believer in nurturing a child’s imagination and encouraging active participation in worlds (plural) of fantasy.  Some parents think such things only result in the child being crushed at the discovery that his parents lied to him.  I don’t agree.  If and when something like that happens, the parents didn’t do it right.

Little children love wonder, and the world is full of wonder, enough and more to share.  NOT to share wonder is a sin.

Power. Parents have power to change a mundane day into a day of wonder. Our children’s memories depend on our willingness to use that power.

Sometimes we are so physically exhausted that it’s difficult to put out the effort. Don’t ever let yourself get caught in that trap. Once you start, it’s easy to continue.

Your children are worth the time. And so are you. Get up from that chair, get those boxes down from wherever they’re stored, and get busy.  Bring some stars down from the sky and let them shine in your living room.  Look at those same stars in your child’s eyes.  You have the power.  You can do this.

Make magic for your children.

Otherwise, they won’t know how to make magic for their own children.