All I Want for Christmas

December 2020 – Around this time of year, children around the world are bursting with excitement as they eagerly await the upcoming holidays.  Looking back to when my kids were much younger, I remember how excited they were to write their Christmas wish lists.  The latest toys dominated them, so I felt fairly confident that they would be ecstatic come Christmas morning – everything (or nearly everything) was waiting under the tree for them to tear open with savage, unbridled force, so there was little chance that they’d be disappointed.  While I always felt overwhelmed by the searching, shopping, and wrapping that led up to the day itself, at least I knew that I was getting them what they wanted.

As they’re growing older, their wish lists are evolving.  While there are some inexpensive items that are not too difficult to obtain, I find that they’re struggling a bit with thinking of items for their lists.  While I’m happy that they’re less focused on accumulating “things,” it makes Santa’s job all that much harder (not to mention that Grandma keeps sending me messages to ask for more of their requests – grandmas have GOT to be spoilin’ some kids).  It will be great when there isn’t a mountain of plastic, cheaply-made nonsense overtaking their rooms (a mountain that takes about three months to eventually be broken down and put away).  But when I ask them for more ideas, they sort of just shrug.  

This year, my girls were offered a duo again.  A few years back, they had done an acro duo that they were greatly successful with (they won at Nationals), and they look back on that routine with fond memories.  I’ve been turning down the duos that have been offered since (primarily for financial reasons), but this year, something changed.  

You see, they finally know the truth about Santa (a bittersweet realization that I’m still working to accept).  So I don’t expect the frenzied ecstasy of the Christmas mornings of the past; while they’ll still be excited, I’m sure, there won’t be the shocked “Oh my gosh, he ate the cookies!” or “Look, he left some footprints!” discoveries that were a typical part of the first hour of the day.  In a word, it will be more subdued.

So when this season approached, I asked the girls if they wanted the duo in lieu of some presents (they’ll still get a few from me) since they weren’t counting on a magical entity to conjure up some gifts.  Without a moment’s hesitation, they said yes (check out Just Duo or Trio It!).  They just began learning the choreography this week, and they can’t contain their enthusiasm over how much they love it.  The day after their first session, they practiced it in their at-home dance space without me even suggesting it.  Their choice to forgo extra presents and take the duo was a good one.

When I was recently asked what I wanted for Christmas, I jokingly replied, “Sleep, more hours in a day, and less anxiety.”  As we leave childhood, we tend to want fewer things that can be purchased; we want the elusive, soul-filling, life-enhancing type of gifts that don’t always come with a monetary price tag.  While there was a fee for the duo, the real gift of it is the experience; you just can’t quantify that with dollars and cents.

This little girl has a head start – if all she wants is to nail that aerial, maybe Santa can deliver some acro privates to help her out.

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With all the money we dance families already spend, should you encourage your dancer to pare down that holiday wish list? Here’s my take: Christmas List.