Letter To Santa

On a day that was supposed to be relaxing and mellow, my husband announced that the time had come for us to clean out the garage. Seeing the look of horror on my face, he quickly rephrased his statement. Acknowledging how much I do during the week, he suggested that I sit and do nothing while he attended to the chore.

Doing nothing is not something I know how to do, nevertheless it sounded much more appealing than cleaning the garage. To avoid feeling guilty, I went upstairs and attempted to do nothing

A few hours later, my husband came in to our bedroom with a smile on his face and a stack of papers in his hand. “Letters to Santa,” he announced. He dropped them on the bed and headed back to the garage.

As I began reading the letter our kids wrote many years ago, I couldn’t help but smile at how silly and gullible they were then and how grown up and mature they have become. Then I had an idea -- why not get everyone to write a letter to Santa this year? It would be fun and interesting to see how their wish lists changed as they have grown up.

At dinner, I announced my idea and was pleasantly surprised when my “gang” didn’t think that I had lost a marble or two. Afterwards, everyone disappeared into their rooms to compose their letters. Surprisingly, it took them much longer this time around.

As I read their “grown up” letters, it quickly became evident that their priorities have changed but their values haven’t. I found that toys were replaced with “boys” or “girls.” Getting good grades was replaced with getting a good solid degree. Health and happiness was a priority for all, and peace on earth was an important concern. It warmed my heart to see that my husband and I did something right, that we raised kids with good values and gold hearts.

My husband and I had similar requests of Santa. But I, of course, had many more. First on my list was immunity from acquiring any more pounds as I get older (enough is enough!). I want that awesome body I never had, the legs that turn heads, and the flawless skin without wrinkles. I want my 20/20 vision to stick around just a bit longer and menopause to pass me by unnoticed. I want to be constantly, obliviously happy. And did I mention I want to be skinny?

These were fun things to ask for, but if you were to read my entire list you would see that the truly important items came towards the end. I want our world to be at peace. I asked for my family to be happy and healthy. I asked for our parents and grandparents to be around us for many years to come. I asked to be able to enjoy my children and their children, and I wanted to continue to be in love with my husband as much as the day I married him.

After this fun exercise, we all sat down to talk about what we wanted and how we are going to get it. Regardless of what we asked for, we all agreed on one thing -- whether you believe in Santa or not is irrelevant. The key is to believe in yourself, then write down your list and go after it. When you believe in yourself, the sky is the limit!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Yana


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Am I Greatful?

How often do we hear that we should be grateful for what we have. How often do we outer the same phrase to others?

A mother gets up every morning just to rush to feed the kids, pack their lunch, walk the dog, get to work and be productive. While stressing over projects, dead lines and meetings, a mother needs to arrange a play date, schedule a doctors appointment, and look to find out that the next due date to apply for school, for the next semester of college is still with in her reach.

We run home to make dinner and check on our younger kids’ homework while we listen to our teenagers complain about life not being fair. From the corner of one eye a pile of bills catches your attention, and you make a mental note that they can no longer wait. Housework that we so much hope will be done by others in our immediate household is left undone…and finally last but not least our significant other is just waiting for his turn to be attended to. We pick up a ringing phone and listen to our parents talk about their health issues, and then switch to the second line just to hear about how our best friend has had it with her husband’s middle age crisis, and she is ready to walk…Where and how she hasn’t figured it out, but she just needed to vent and to share that little piece of information with you, and some where down the path of that conversation you think you just picked up on the thought that crossed her mind…”I can always take my two little munchkins and move to my friends house, at least until all the chaos is resolved.” By the time you’re done with everyone’s drama, you look and notice that you just cleaned the whole kitchen without even realizing it. You kiss the kids goodnight and flop on your couch, and precisely at that moment, you hear an inner voice… I should be grateful?…Is that what I heard someone at work say to me today?

Finally sitting on the couch-next to a pile of laundry, I automatically start folding while thinking about what should be cooked for dinner tomorrow, I decide to flip on the evening news…

From one channel to the next the evening news presents all the possible horrors one might imagine. Between the war, the earthquakes, the floods and fires, the outside world is full of tragedies, and as you switch the TV off you realize that:

While my kids may not be the angels about who I never have to worry about, they are good kids…My husband who even after a hard day at work offers his support and encouragement, even if it’s almost midnight when he is ready to show it…is a good thing. Although my parents who are complaining of their constant medical problems, are alive and with me today... The house, even if it needs work, is a place I call home, and as I crawl into bed exhausted and sleepy I feel a warm body of the man I love and think that I’m not only Grateful but very much Happy.

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