I’m THAT mom during any holiday.
I’m the mom that goes big for any celebration. I make my kids Halloween costumes, blow up balloons to cover their bedroom floor for birthdays, hide a ba-gillion easter eggs in the back yard, our elf is the one your child comes home talking about, and the leprechaun causes major mischief that takes half a day to clean. I spend more money than I should and stay up late creating whatever magic I can come up with. I go BIG. I occasionally get called out by my fellow moms for being a show-off or being a Pinterest mom, But I don’t care.
Because I see childhood as a time of believing and letting your imagination run wild. Even Einstein believed in Santa Claus! He believed that it was good for the imagination and that’s where the most creative ideas are born.
I don’t use these events as leverage but as creative endeavors that allow my children to experience magic and wonder.
My kids greet each event with excitement and awe, and it is worth every dollar and lost minute of sleep. I love hearing the ooohs and ahhs or giggles from the unexpected treats and surprises that they awaken to.
I believe that allowing my kids to believe in magic and imagination helps them to deal with anything life sends them.
The disappointment in not catching the leprechaun leads to determination in building a better trap next year. The belief in the spirit of Santa Claus teaches that giving is magic. Birthdays are about being celebrated for being the individual that you are. The Halloween costumes allow for their creativity to flow.
I do all this to celebrate my children’s childhood and to keep the wonder alive before the world tells them it’s silly or not real. I encourage my children to ask questions then we look up answers together. They choose what to believe and what to let go of.
I admit sometimes I just want to let them in on it. But it’s like working out. Yeah, I don’t want to do it and it’s hard and sweaty but do I feel great after going all out…YES, exhausted but great. I also know some people feel it’s setting up high expectations or even lying to my children.
The thing is, they love to believe, and as their Mom, I take great pleasure in letting them have this fun for as long as they wish. I see us moms as the gatekeepers to our children’s childhood and the magic that it is.