It’s the little things

My advice on this Christmas Eve is to sit back and reflect. You may not have very much time for that, of course, because at this very moment you might have a house-full of relatives on your hands. You may be getting ready to unwrap a wagon-load of presents, or you may be about to embark on a feast worthy of Thanksgiving.
But if, or when, you have a few moments to yourself, please feel free to unwrap yourself from the hectic nature of the holiday and think about the things that really matter — consider carefully the once-a-year event that is unlike any other holiday. Give pause. A little quiet time is in order.
This Christmas Eve happens to be a time of relaxation for the Wolter family. We had our hectic Christmas celebration last weekend with our three daughters, their husbands and our six grandkids. Today we have Sandy’s parents with us, which makes Christmas a bit quieter, with less an emphasis on gifts, than it was the previous week. Which is nice.
I returned from Mankato to Worthington on the heels of that festive Wolter Christmas extravaganza thinking about the little things. Yes, it’s the little things that stay with you sometimes.
We planned for an early dinner so as to get started with the gift exchange as quickly as possible. There are now 15 of us, and we insist on congregating in a circle and allowing only one present to be opened at a time. It takes hours to finish.
Shannon was late, so we wolfed down our dinner about a half-hour later than we’d expected. We forgave her (after all, it IS Christmas) and the gift exchange soon commenced. These are the little episodes I’ll remember most about the day:
— My oldest grandchild Mia typically is chosen to read the Christmas story from Luke before the gift-wrapping flies. But Kari, my middle daughter, mentioned that she was going to bring out my mother’s Bible (mom left us just before Christmas 2012) for me to read from. I told her as discreetly as I could that, since it’s mom’s Bible I’d be reading from, I didn’t want to take the chance that I might get emotional. So Mia read it, and as usual she did it wonderfully.
— Nixon, Kari and Mike’s 3-year-old, jealously cried on his mama’s shoulder moments after his cousin Tyson, Laura and Nathan’s 5-year-old, opened his big green Transformer toy. Seconds later Nix was happy again when he unwrapped his green Hulk pajamas, and within moments he was prancing around the room pretending to be his favorite super-hero.
— I received a microphone system for my home computer to make MP3s with my guitar and save them onto CDs for my kids. I don’t know why my kids want to hear a CD of me singing songs on my guitar. I would barely call myself passable as a singer. But it was a very nice thought, anyway.
— We stayed at Kari and Mike’s overnight, so on Sunday we went with them to church to hear their sons’ 6-year-old Jake and Nixon perform in their Christmas pageant. Kari dressed them up in very pretty neckties, which they wore for the entire performance. When the songs began Jake sang every line and was perfect with every hand motion. Nixon, keeping a close eye on Jake, mimicked his actions like a trooper.
— As Sandy and I returned home to Worthington following the program, I smiled to myself while I remembered one more thing: I went through the whole weekend without watching a single football game. And I didn’t mind a bit!