Joy Joy of Christmas and all the ballou

The one thing about Christmas I raised my older children with, was putting the kibosh on the whole Santa thing. Santa is not real, but the original story is. The original Santa lived in Europe hundreds of years ago, a baron or a lord who loved to tinker with toy making. I loved the story, I love the fact that his legacy has lived on, albeit changed just like Chinese whispers and urban legends.
Though my older children understood the concept of gift giving, accepting the Santa myth, Little Miss Mischief's attitude is a whole different story. She utterly refuses to believe the truth behind Santa, angry that I have placed presents under the our Christmas Tree.
Scoffing to her older sister the other day "Mum, has put some presents under the tree, well that's just not right!".
My heart sank in the last week of school when the students were asked to write a letter to Santa. Her letter as she read out to me was

Dear Santa,
I would very much like a Horse please.
Could you please leave him in the backyard instead of under the tree, as I wouldn't want him to pee and poop in the house, it would make too much mess.
I have tried to be a very good girl this year I hope you think so too.

Thank you and Merry Christmas.

She wrote it so neatly and adorned it with beautiful drawings, a great deal of effort and time went into this beautifully crafted letter. Right at that moment I wanted to kill her teacher.

Monday, oldest daughter 'Zip' took Little Miss Mischief shopping for some pressies and some sister to sister time. Stuck in a long queue, LMM couldn't understand why Zip was buying presents for the family. Zip went into a long lecture about the beauty and love of gift giving and Santa was not really real, when a lady behind them interrupted the conversation with "I hope you don't grow up like your sister, because that would be a very bad thing. Only Santa brings presents for good children".
Zip sore red, and there was steam streaming out of her ears from sheer anger. I got to know about it when she fumed over a sedentary Chai in the kitchen upon their return, the rest of the world got to know about it beforehand via facebook mobile. I spent the time whilst they were at the shops wrapping LMM's presents, they were now under the tree and LMM was a tad more angrier about the growing stash under our magnificent tree. I guess watching the endearing Christmas DVD's over the last couple of weeks hasn't helped either.
We all spoke in turn with her about the meaning of Christmas, none of us at all successful, until her older brother Ritch might have just said the right words as she 'got it' after listening to him. She came bounding out of Ritch's room with "Dad, we are going shopping tomorrow, as we haven't done that together, and you need to buy some presents. I will help you, OK? it will be so much fun".
Maurie gulped.
Yesterday, after getting dressed in her favourite pretty clothes at 5am she was ready to go 'hit' the shops with daddy. Daddy was snoring away in slumber land.
I held her off till 6.30am when she presented her father with a high protein breakfast of bacon and eggs in bed. "Cant have you irritable for a day shopping!" Role reversal here I think.
8.30 am they were off for a day of Christmas shopping together.
Zip and I were free to do some major errands, Little Miss Mishief free, yay.

When they both got home later in the afternoon, she threw me my swimmers and towel and ordered me out the back door for a swim in our pool. There was some wrapping to do. She pushed me out the back door under strict orders not to return till she said it was OK. The water was very cold.

When she came out a little while later, she had me so close to tears of joy when she said with such a huge beaming proud smile "You are so going to love what I bought for you, so much that you'll want to squish me tight and love me forever, you are so going to love it!".

Over pillow talk with Maurie last night, he said how she went straight to a jewellery store and picked out a ring, before Maurie was even inside. I lost both my wedding and engagement rings 3 months after our wedding which hasn't sat very well with me. I have lamented over the loss terribly, and LMM knows. The ring she picked out had a price tag of over $5,000, which Maurie had to talk her out off, with your mother will kill me aspect. He assured me that they found something very beautiful that she loved even more. I can't wait, not for the gift itself, but for the love that has gone into it.

A very Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!