Day 357 - Glædelig Lille Juleaften

Today is Lille Juleaften, Danish for Little Christmas Eve, the Eve of Christmas Eve, and to me it feels more Christmasy than Christmas Day. It's a day set aside specifically to be excited about anticipating what's coming next.

When I was little, I was given one present on Little Christmas Eve, usually something that could tide me over until Christmas Eve, or something special to wear for the holidays. I loved that little gift. When I was little I loved it because it made waiting that one more day manageable, and when I got older, I loved it because I knew it was selected specifically as a gift for that day, which made it all the more special. 

Now, Little Christmas Eve feels like a respite in the storm of the holidays. A day to gather all the excitement, energy, exhaustion, and anticipation into a containable space. I can feel the girls' excitement about Christmas, it's palpable and a little infectious. After all, I opened my TV early!  I miss that feeling of intense anticipation, of an unknown that is so exciting and wonderful that you can barely breath, and certainly can't sleep. I love that we get to celebrate that feeling. 

So we celebrated Little Christmas Eve but not exactly as I has planned, with cookie making and Christmas light tours. Instead, we went shopping for gifts since I had waited until today to do the majority of my Christmas shopping. We had lots of fun together; and being out and about was a good distraction for my very excited girls. I gave the girls a new Christmas DVD for their Little Christmas Eve gift. We ate pizza and to watched a Christmas movie on our new TV while I wrapped presents and the girls piled them under the tree because yesterday there weren't any presents under the tree!