I Still Believe

Last year, Jake became interested in the movie "The Polar Express". With the combination of a train, Christmas and Santa that are all central to the story, this should come as no surprise. While Jadyn and I were at the library for story time a couple weeks back, I decided to check out the book so I could read it to the kids along with their other holiday-themed books.

To my surprise when I got to the last line of the book, I found myself crying. I found this odd. It isn't a particularly sad book but as the weeks progressed I found this not to be an isolated incident. It turns out I simply cannot make it through the Polar Express without getting weepy and I really had to think about the reason why. This is the conclusion I came up with:

The Polar Express is about the magic of Christmas. It revolves around the innocence of children and the way that innocence allows their imagination to soar, to dream up far away places and magical creatures and beings. The movie expands on that theme to include the true spirit of Christmas as they show children's innate goodness; their willingness to share and help each other even without their parents hovering over them demanding they do the right thing. No, they do it on their own out of the goodness of their own heart.

One of the many great advantages to having children comes during the holidays when you get to relive the magic of Christmas and the conclusion I came to, the reason for the crying is that I want to hold onto that innocence for as long as possible, not only for my kids but for myself as their mom. Preparing for Santa's visit carries so many fun traditions. And so if someone rang that bell for me, I think I would be able to hear it. I don't want it to ever fade. Because in my own way I have found that I still truly believe. I believe in the magic of Christmas.

And so in addition to our new tradition of watching the Polar Express on the day before Christmas Eve I also wanted to share another tradition for those that wish to keep tabs on Santa as he makes his worldwide visit to all the good little boys and girls all over the world. You and your kids can track Santa's progress and watch video clips of him visiting far away places on the NORAD website at http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html. Jake got a real kick out of this last year and he is eagerly awaiting to the do the same today.

And for all my friends and family near and far, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Safe travels and may you too find that you can still hear the sweet sound of the bell and join in the magic of the Christmas season.