'Twas the Night Before Christmas

I love Christmas Eve. It’s a relaxing night (well, compared to the chaos of tomorrow morning) and offers a little time to reflect while the little one is asleep. He’ll be jumping on our bed at the crack of dawn (or earlier), so now’s my time.

 Collage by Lise Kirk, thank you for sharing with me!

We usually have a simple dinner in the evening. This year we'll be having filet mignon, baked potatoes and an easy vegetable, like carrots. It seems to be different each year but always an easy to prepare meal. I hope one year will be the start of a new tradition with dinner Christmas Eve but while Andrew is still young, this is what we do for now.

After dinner, we get the cookies and milk ready for Santa. And of course, carrot sticks for the reindeer. I never get tired of seeing the look on the his face when he sees they gobbled up their snacks. Funny thing is, he often checks the treat dishes before he even looks at the presents. (Okay that last part was my hopeful imagination! I can't really expect much to hold his 4 year old interest more than all the presents under the tree yet!)

Then the little one is off to bed, but of course, there are a few starts and stops along the way.

“Mommy, I can’t sleep.”
“I’m hungry.”
“When will it be morning.”
“I’m thirsty.”

You know the drill, but eventually, he drifts off to sleep and it’s quiet once again. With a sigh on contentment, I settle down to last minute wrapping and getting presents under the tree. And of course, the stockings need stuffing too.

I occasionally look through the old photo albums…you know, prior to the digital age…and see how everyone has grown and changed. I think about my Nana and Grampa, who isn’t with us any longer and a few friends that have been lost along the way, but overall, it’s positive thoughts and remembering the good times we had.

Cap it off with a Christmas movie favorite and the night is golden. I can’t let a year go by without watching A Christmas Carol. My favourite is still the 1951 version with Alistair Sim (although I am considerably younger!). I’ll save the hilarious A Christmas Story (remember, Peter Billingsley) for a fun night with the family and remind them, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” over and over again. They love this, or so I convince myself.

That’s pretty much for me. How does your Christmas Eve go?