Magic

Santa Claus is real in the eyes of a child because mom and dad perpetuate this childhood truth through deed and device and create an atmostphere whereby Santa not only exists, but he inspires the most earnest of faith in the youngest of all of us.

Christmas at our house is certainly one of *magic*!

Christmas Eve: Uncharacteristic, stellar behavior from Brock marked the genuine *magic* of the day. He danced around the Christmas tree, counted the gifts with B-R-O-C-K written on them and sang made up songs about St. Nicholas. He listened. He obeyed. He was diligent not to attempt anything that would prompt a last minute call to Santa Claus cancelling his visit to our home that evening.

At 5:22 pm on Christmas Eve, while waiting to be seated for dinner at a local hot spot, Brock lost his very first tooth--having nibbled on a caramel apple all afternoon and anxiously wiggling it all the way to the restaurant. We laughed at the thought that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy might bump into one another at our house (What's the likelyhood of that, after all?). Brock giggled with unbridled delight at the prospect. A double dose of *magic* on the most important night of the year!

At 8:38 on Christmas Eve, following a busy and entertaining day, and a retelling of Luke chapter 2, the birth of our Savior, we tucked Brock into bed with the promise that Santa Claus was a mere 45 minutes away and was quickly making his way towards our house. Hardly wasting a second to return our goodnight hugs, Brock instantly turned over and shut his eyes tight. It takes the true *magic* of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy to inspire such a smooth and speedy bedtime. Within minutes, his breathing kept a regular pace and he was off in dreamland.

At 9:51 pm on Christmas Eve, the Tooth Fairy in all her glittery show arrived and deposited one dollar coin into the pocket on Brock's Tooth Fairy pillow case in return for his baby tooth. *Magically,* Madame Tooth Fairy exited the room without rousing the adorable, sleeping child.

At 4:43 a.m. on Christmas Day, Brock burst into our room and shouted as loudly as he could and with gleeful enthusiasm, "MOMMY, the Tooth Fairy left me a PENNY!!!" Startled awake and noticibly drousy, we chuckle and I took Brock by the hand and led my smiling and dazzled boy back to his room. He told me that he was going to sleep with his penny (dollar) until Santa arrived, which I assured him would be any minute now. Like magic, Brock turned over, still clutching his penny (dollar) and shut his eyes tight. I went back to bed.

At 5:07 a.m. A rustling from the living room, followed by shouts of "Santa came, mommy! Santa was here!" eminated through the dark, peacefulness of our bedroom and we knew that Christmas morning had officially begun There was pure elation in Brock's eyes as he darted from the empty plate of Santa's cookies to the two incredible Star Wars Lego ships waiting beneath the tree (gosh, it must have taken Santa's elves at least 4 hours to build those things!!). The magic of childhood fantasy hung in the air as we watched Brock joyfully examine his Lego ships and unload his stocking. Nothing comes close to the satisfaction that we felt, having worked our magic to make Santa and his reindeer, AND the Tooth Fairy 100% real in the eyes of our little boy.

Magic doesn't have to be anything gradiose or crowd pleasing, nothing done to amaze and confound the masses. Everyday magic is achieved by the most inexperienced and yet successful of magicians: mom and dad. Christmastime at our house means that we can dream up the most wildly creative and visionary magic for our little boy and he'll believe anything we tell him. In a way, it's a little magic for us too.