#This Year's Christmas

My oldest memory from childhood.

While sitting in the kotatsu,
I was talking with my mother,
saying, "Santa isn't coming, is he?"
My memory is a bit fuzzy,
but I wonder if my mother brought it up.

Then, suddenly, at the front door,
there was a
rustling sound.

When I went to the front door,
there was a present left there.

My mother said,
"Santa might still be nearby.
If you go outside, you might be able to meet him."

Madoka-chan went outside with her mother and
"Thank you, Santa! 👋"
she said, waving her hand toward the sky.

There are plenty of things to point out,
but let's set that aside for now 😅

How pure
Madoka-chan was.

I'm sure her parents had a lot of fun, too.

Nearly 30 years have passed since then.

A baby has also come to
Madoka-chan's home.

One day, as Christmas was approaching,
my mother (the grandmother)
said to my daughter,

"Grandma Santa will buy you,
(my daughter's name),
whatever you want."

"!?" (my inner voice)

...Mother, have you forgotten the Santa fantasy and
the joy that parents give...?

My mother was full of enthusiasm to give the presents herself,
so from then on,
I decided to leave all Christmas and birthday presents
to my mother.

So, we as parents have
never given her a present.

20 years since then.

With the pandemic and such, visits to my parents' home
have decreased, and I suddenly thought,

it's late, but maybe I should try
giving her a present as a parent.

I can't exactly do secret research and
place it by her bedside, though.

When I suggested it to my daughters,
they were happier than I expected.

So this is what the joy of giving feels like.

By the way, when I asked my daughters
what they thought about Grandma giving them presents
and their parents not giving them any,
they said it didn't matter who gave them as long as they got something😅

When I immediately asked what they wanted,
my younger daughter, who wants to be a makeup artist in the future,
thought for a moment and said she wanted a Christmas-exclusive
cosmetics set.

Reservations for cosmetics often start quite early, and they are often sold out by the time you actually want them.

So, I took it as a sign when I saw it
and bought it right away.

My older daughter, who was born in September,
is still thinking about it, saying she wants a bag
along with her birthday present.

This isn't really a big story about giving Christmas presents,
and despite this being for Shun-san's project,
it turned into a story about the behind-the-scenes realities of being an adult.

But as a parent who has gone through Christmas many times,
I had a topic that felt like my first Christmas ever,
so I ended up writing about it.

I enjoyed it, but
it might be hard for Shun-san to comment on.

Even so, I look forward to your continued support😊🎄