My best Christmas moment.

Despite all the hassle and hubbub (is that a real word?) of the Christmas season, I found a moment that made all the work worth it. It was the afternoon of Christmas day. We had a big breakfast with our family plus Grandma and Grandpa from Arkansas, and we had finished with opening all the presents. There was a moment of calm, and my daughter, Madeline, realized she had forgotten her surprise that she had been telling me about. Her school allows the kids to "shop" on site for presents for their families. Items are donated, and the children pick out gifts for their parents and siblings. Volunteers then wrap the items for the kids to take home for Christmas. So on this day, she suddenly remembered her gifts and ran upstairs to get them. She passed out the gifts to her family. I got some golf balls. She gave her mom some cookie cutters, her little sister a book, and her brother got a hot wheels car that was probably his favorite toy of Christmas. Each gift was perfectly tailored to the one receiving it. I was filled with joy watching her give these good gifts to those she loved, and I teared up a bit when I realized that this was a small step on her journey to become just like her Father.