Sheila Sims Iding
Ahhh…the excitement of Christmas Eve. The anticipation of Christmas Eve. The wonder of Christmas Eve. We’ve all felt it. We’ve all experienced it. You start planning for it weeks…maybe months ahead. You vow you won’t get behind again this year…like all those other years. You promise yourself this year will be different and there won’t be that last minute rush the days before. But…the good intentions fall short again this year and there is another rush at the end to get it all done. But you get it done…despite the rush. You knew you would.
You have bought gifts with the recipients’ reaction in your mind. You have decorated carefully with a vision of just how you hoped it would look. You make homemade decorations, watch for decorations on sale and then you splurge and buy that one thing that will tie the whole decorative theme together.
You plan what you will wear. You try it on and then go back to the planning board…back to the planning board…back to the planning board. (Back to the diet?) Not that attire should matter that much but this is a special season and you want to wear just the right thing for this seasonal celebration. Finally you are done with the trying on and triple planning outfit. It’s ironed, hung up and awaiting the day.
You make lists, lists and more list. “To do” lists. “To buy” lists. Urgent lists.
Can-wait-til-later lists. And then it is upon you. That Eve of excitement, that eve of waiting and that eve of anticipation. You know you won’t sleep much this special eve because the wonder and joy of the season flirt with the excitement and they drown out the “just rest and sleep” voices in your head. And you give up hope of getting enough sleep because the excitement is too dominant. You’ve felt it before and learned not to fight it. You go through the lists again in your mind, you envision the decorations all in place and you picture the reaction to the gifts you have gotten and the gifts you will receive and you embrace the excitement even in the middle of the night…the middle of the Eve.
Morning comes and the outfit prepared in advanced is waiting and ready. The curling iron is worked a little more carefully this special morning and you are more selective about the jewelry. Usually earrings, bracelets and necklaces aren’t so important but this morning they seem to get some extra consideration. And as you finish preparing for the morning you realize you have confused the feelings. Wait…it’s not Christmas Eve. All the excitement, anticipation and wonder of the season has been confused with Christmas Eve holidays. It’s the-night-before-the-first-day-of-school Eve.
It’s amazing how much it mimicks the joy of the holiday season and the anticipation of Christmas Eve. It’s easy to confuse the emotions because they are the same. The weeks of planning, the hope of not getting behind (again), the lists, the decorations, the “gifts” you buy for students. Even the outfit for “the day” mimmicks Christmas Eve emotions.
It’s the gifts you are receiving that are not like the ones under a tree Christmas morn. These gifts are not wrapped in pretty paper and festive ribbons, these gifts are wrapped in parents’ love and hope and desires for each child. Each child comes with an unwritten tag that you know “reads” Child of God. When you see the 24 little gifts walk through your classroom door you get those tears of awe like you would when you receive a very special gift you truly cherish. Because they are. Because you do.