What a year it’s been. I’m hoping I’ve stayed off the naughty list and that Santa still knows my address.
So what’s on my Christmas list as a mom whose adult kids are home (briefly!) for the holidays?
To fall asleep at night knowing every bed is full with the people I love most.
To have unhurried, quality time with my kids. No agenda, no multitasking, just being together.
To hear their laughter drifting down the hallway.
To have real conversations when phones are down and defenses are too.
To pile into one car, turn up the cheesy Christmas music, and go look at lights together.
To let go of the pressure to make everything perfect and simply soak in the season as it is. Messy, loud, fleeting, and full.
To hear my kids oohing and ahhing over Christmas cookies and breads that people have dropped off, realizing that the older they get, the more they appreciate homemade things.
To play cards or games together, preferably without arguing, because in a competitive family, Lord knows how hard that is.
To know that even as they grow outward, home still pulls them back to a place that helps them let down and exhale.
Because when your kids are grown, the gifts change.
Presence becomes the present.
You stop asking for things you can wrap and start wishing for moments and memories you can hold.
Just a little longer.
“Presence becomes the present” is the best line I have ever heard…Thank you for this, Kelly. As always, you nailed what is most important.