He woke up around 7.30am, came to see me (it’s not morning without a cuddle with mummy) and asked, as he had done for the last couple of weeks: “Is it Christmas yet?”.
“Yes, it is! Has Santa come? Let’s go and see!” I replied. And we went to the living room, him flying, me waddling. A window had been left open (the fireplace is in what is the grandparents room right now) for Santa, and a plate with apple juice and a mince pie and a banana had been placed next to the Christmas tree, but they were not there anymore, only a Thank you! card in their place. And lots of presents were there… Santa did come!
He was so excited he started jumping and turning round and round, sparkling eyes and flashed cheeks… then we started opening the presents; he can read his name now, so with a bit of help he distributed the presents to everyone. Santa got him a giant rocket (inflatable, for the safety of Pallino’s parents) and a dinosaur – he actually only asked for a rocket in his letter, but wanted a dinosaur too, Santa must have heard him when he told us.
It all made sense. The lights, the tree, looking for the right “present from Santa”… it was all artificial and tiring and overrated the day before, but his eyes, his joy that morning, made me reconcile with Christmas… as long as our children believe in some magic, the world is a bit better, somehow, and our heart a bit warmer.
I tried to minimise the commercial aspect of Christmas. We have a small tree and used mostly paper decorations, some hand made by Pallino at the nursery. I told him that Santa would bring one present, the others were from people who loved him. And I’ve been reading with him meaningful stories, not all about Santa. Thinking that we’re celebrating the birth of a baby means a lot to us, especially this year!
What is essential is invisible to the eye 
I loved the rocket. He is a lucky boy.