Ready for Christmas

Sometimes time is a hard concept for children to grasp.  As is waiting.  And patience.  Briggs has been chomping at the bit to get his Christmas train out from the storage room in the basement.  We told him that after Thanksgiving we would get our Christmas tree and then we could get out the Christmas train to put around the tree.  The morning after Thanksgiving, Briggs came bounding into our room around 7:15 in the morning and asked, "Did Daddy get the tree yet?  Can we put up the Christmas train?"

And although we had not, in fact, left the house at sunrise to pick out a Christmas tree, we let Briggs get out his Christmas train and put it together in preparation.

Later in the day, Zach and the kids ventured out to pick out a Christmas tree (while I did a little Black Friday shopping) and when I got home, we decorated the tree and the house.  We put up the garland and the nativity sets and the stockings.  The following morning, Briggs again came bursting into our room with a question.  "Did you fill the stockings?"  Ummm...no buddy.  It's not Christmas.  In fact, it's not even December yet.

The tree is up.  The train is receiving lots of play time.  The stockings are hung.  We've already made it to the Festival of Lights.  Although it is starting to feel like Christmas, I am quite certain that Christmas is not here yet.

Briggs, on the other hand, isn't so sure.