A Child's Christmas

The Christmas season carries lots of fond childhood memories for me and once in a while I find it fun to think back and let the warm fuzzies take over.

One of the main things I love about December is that it is also egg nog season, and I love me some egg nog. I know very few other people who actually like it too, but to me egg nog always reminds me of my grandma's house as a kid. She had this black side by side door refrigerator and she always had egg nog during the holiday season. That and polish pudding but unfortunately my love of that has die out with age.

Something else that has died with age is getting up before dawn to open gifts. I can't believe how early I was up some years. I didn't even have siblings to encourage the excitement. Of course that also meant that every year I got lots of gifts from Santa and was totally spoiled, which is really a great benefit of being an only child.

One of my classic memories that I frequently think of still to this day was when mom, dad, and I were out (I think) getting our tree and I had my arms inside of my coat. Mom always told me not to do this and not to run because I'd slip and not be able to catch myself. Well little Jessica apparently didn't heed those warnings because on that fateful day I wiped out on the pavement and only had my face to break my fall. I learned the hard way, but it was a lesson well learned because I don't think I've ever made the same mistake since.

Another thing I liked to do during holidays growing up was decorate my room. Thinking back to amount of effort I would put into it I have to say, I was a pretty creative youngster. I remember one year I made a fireplace out of construction paper and put it on my bedroom wall. It seems like it must have taken quite a bit of time to do, but I guess time is not really a factor in a child's mind.

I'm grateful to have had a loving, easy childhood because now that I'm older it's nice to look back on. I know that not everyone is so lucky, and I find that so unfair because every kid deserves to live a happy, care-free life. Christmas can be such an exciting time when there's no school, Santa, treats, and presents to look forward to. I wish I could make sure that more kids out there would get to have the same fortune that I did/do.