The Greatest Gift of All

With Christmas 2006 becoming a memory, I can't help but think about the greatest gift I received this year. It is beautiful beyond compare and it is priceless. It can't be seen, but it can be carried. It can't be worn, yet it keeps me warm. The gift I speak of wasn't even given to me intentionally but it is a gift that I will forever carry in my heart and it was given to me by my daughter.

My daughter is just 3 ½ and this was the first Christmas that she really started to "get" the whole making a list for Santa. She had exactly three items on her list: a wagon (with two juice holders for my milk and juice please), an Ariel salon and a cash register. My husband and I made sure that her wishes were covered. Two of the items were going to be there first thing Christmas morning, but the coveted salon would arrive Christmas night with her Godfather.

Christmas morning arrived with squeals of delight at the wagon, cash register and other various gifts from Santa, Grammy, Mommy and Daddy but there was this look of sad confusion. When I asked her what was wrong she said she wondered if Santa knew she asked for a salon or if he thought she had been bad. Oops, mommy didn't see this one coming. Not wanting to give away the surprise I explained that Santa knows what other people buy for her and that maybe someone else had gotten her the salon, or maybe he just couldn't find it and she would have to wait and use her gift cards to get it.

The day was filled with her laughter and excitement as she played with her new things but every once in awhile she would mention the salon. My heart was torn, I hated to see her disappointment but I also wanted her to realize that you can't always get everything you want. As the time approached for her Godfather to come over she was getting more and more anxious.