My little granddaughter gets so excited about driving around and looking at Christmas lights every year. The tradition started when she was just a baby. On a very fussy night when my husband and I were keeping her so her mother could do some Christmas shopping we decided we would try a car ride to calm her down. She didn’t fall asleep on the ride but she did fall in love with the glow of Christmas lights. I can still remember her stretching as far as she could in her car seat to watch the lights twinkle. To this day that is her favorite Christmas activity.
With that in mind, when my granddaughter was three she woke up one morning to find a gift from Santa on the front porch. She made movements in blurs as she quickly unwrapped the present. To her delight it was boxes of outdoor Christmas lights. I was sure if we all worked hard she would be able to see the lights lit up by nightfall. We spent the day hanging her Christmas lights. My husband made a quick trip to the hardware store and returned with a plastic light up Santa Claus.
Every year some sort of outdoor decorations are sent from Santa to my granddaughter’s family. She has come to check the porch first thing every morning starting the day after Thanksgiving. Over the years as the collection has grown so has the glow from my granddaughter’s home. When she was still small she would cry when Christmas was over and we had to take down the lights. We told her that it is bad luck to have your Christmas lights up after New Year’s.
One of my all time favorite letters to Santa came from my little granddaughter. She wanted to have a big house covered in lights when she became a grown up. She went on to give a detailed list of things she wanted have display on the front lawn. She thought that a merry go round would look perfect in the driveway. She still thinks the merry go round is a great idea. After the lights are up she can’t wait to mail a letter to Santa to thank him.
Sally is now ten years old. There are times when I am informed by her that she is now too big to do certain things like hold my hand in public. I was happy this year when she said that she was going outside to check on the food for the reindeer. I watched out the window as she carried out the big silver bowl of food. She sat the food on the ground and sat down on the bench. She was smiling as she looked around at the lights. I couldn’t help but smile. Watching my grandchildren do the things that their parents did as they grew up is truly a blessing. Children are what make my holidays special.
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