Christmas Eve, Christmas Day - Santa came!

photo by Ron Bird

I need to let you in on a secret, Chip and I have been  recruited by Santa to help with Christmas packaging.  We were approached about two years ago after Christmas by an undercover elf and asked if we could assist.  Yeah, I know, you think I have gone bonkers.  "It was bound to happen!, "I could see it coming for a while", etc.  Believe what you want, but I know THERE ARE OTHERS OUT THERE! 

The story goes like so, Santa doesn't have enough helpers.  At the rate the population here on earth is multiplying, he can't keep up.  So, according to Guy "the elf", he recruits certain parents that still hold Christmas near and dear to their hearts and have spread the Christmas spirit in the past to help.  Chip and I thought about this mission and the responsibility it would require and gladly accepted.  You see, Guy informed us that the only "gift" he would give us is an improvement in our gift packaging ability.  We inquired if we could get super sonic speed or the ability to mute all noise but Guy "the elf" explained that because we were not elves per say we would not be bestowed these abilities.  Which as all my undercover comrades know makes for our mission to be VERY DANGEROUS.

I am not supposed to share this information with anyone and we might lose our privileges because I can't hold a secret.  But look at what we did on Christmas Eve:

I feel that Chip and I are getting better at it with every Christmas that has gone by.  Another great perk, we have started our own Christmas tradition!  Christmas eve is our time, even though we are helping Santa somewhere in the thick of it, we found the time to have some champagne and share the moment together.  Sooo, I know that I have let the cat out of the bag and that Santa and Guy "the elf" might be angry but I wanted to thank them for giving us a moment to slow down and count our many blessings and love each other.  This quiet and still moment helps us cope with this madness:

I am so looking forward to next year's Christmas.  Hopefully, we won't get fired.  I am counting on the human capacity for denial and disbelieving.  You will think this is a catchy blog post and that this is not possible.  But somewhere in our hearts we know that the magic of Christmas is our responsibility, that stressing over preparations, last minute rushing to buy more stuff and economic meltdowns should be put aside and we should focus on the true spirit of Christmas, we owe it to our children.