Simple Joys of Christmas - Child's Artwork

Christmas through the eyes of a child is magical.

Each year, I incorporate a few of our son's early masterpieces into the holiday decorations.

Now that he is long past the age of Santa and so many other holiday traditions, it helps this mother to still remember those days and that joy.  It also puts Christmas into perspective in ways that so many other things cannot.

As long as the tree has a gold star on top (always a demand from our son growing up), it does not matter if the other decorations are equally distributed through the branches.

Snowmen can frown, because the longevity of snow in our area is just like the holidays -- gone before you get a chance to really enjoy.

There is a folder full of holiday artwork created by his chubby little fingers, and it is all still magical.

This is the only Christmas artwork I have from my childhood.  Mother kept a lot of things, but artwork by my sister and I did not seem to make the cut.

It was a Christmas card to our paternal grandfather, Elmer.  I would have been 8, and my sister was 10 years old that year.  I have no doubt that she masterminded most of the project, and was giving me strict orders during the entire process.  She most likely cut out the letters and numbers, and I provided the rather haphazard dusting of glitter.

It appears that we borrowed the lines from a Christmas carol and added our own little twist!

Karen must have also been trying out her newly acquired skills of cursive writing.  The use of my full name was also probably payback for not applying that glitter in a more orderly fashion!

She and Granddaddy are celebrating Christmas in Heaven, where everything is golden and glowing even without glitter and glue.

This just might be my most favorite piece of child's artwork:

my husband's drawing, as a 7 year old, of the Three Wisemen.  It had been transferred to a ceramic dish.  I discovered it in my mother-in-law's attic, much to his dismay.  Had he found it first, it might never have made the trip to our home.  I don't even mind the small chip on one side.

If you know my husband, it just makes this so much more endearing and comical.

The magic of Christmas through the eyes of children is a special and simple gift.

May it be a gift you discover and experience this year and always.