I don’t remember Christmas being stressful. I remember long car rides to Grandparents’ houses. I remember Midnight Mass on TV from the Vatican. Looking back on it, I realize now it was more like 6 p.m. mass, but it still made an impact! I remember the food...my goodness, my grandmothers could cook! I remember being teased about not getting what I had asked for and then getting what I asked for as my last present. What I don’t remember is stress...any stress. It was just fun and in a very real way, magical.

I do get stressed now at Christmas time. Way too easily stressed, to be honest. Scheduling Christmas stops alone can drive everyone a little silly. I am always thinking I should have some sort of running clock going, at least in my head, for when it feels like we stay a little too long—which is ridiculous. No one in our family has ever made me feel that way!

So in an effort to keep my grown-up stresses out of a fun column, I decided that I would ask our kids what they remember about their first 10, 8 and 6 Christmases respectively. I was happy to find that what they remember best is what I remembered best as a kid—Christmas is still awesome!

Mary Grace is our first born, and probably like the first born in your family, she gets the brunt of our parenting missteps! Her earliest Christmas memory was that we hung the ornaments too low on the tree and that she would sleep under it. We let her sleep under the tree? I suppose it’s not a bad misstep, but still, maybe she needed to be in her room. I was surprised that was her first memory. Next for her was the year that we decided to take the family on a cruise for Christmas. Yep! We went on a cruise at Christmas one year. It would take three columns worth of space to unpack all of that story. So, I will just let that stand alone!

Our middle child, Ellie, remembered playing in the snow, which clearly wasn’t the year of the 90 degree weather in the Gulf of Mexico. She also has a sweet memory of yearly tradition: I read the story of the birth of Jesus and they take the Little People Nativity Scene and act out the tale. This was my wife’s idea and I think it’s brilliant. The kids love the interaction and it keeps our son from hiding Baby Jesus each January.

Speaking of our son, Beckett. His honest, all-boy answer to the question, “What is your favorite Christmas memory?” were perfect for him (and most 6-year-old boys!) He told me his favorite thing about Christmas is getting up before everyone else and crawling under the tree to see if his name is on any presents. I appreciate the honesty, son! He also mentioned a sleigh ride, which I think is what he calls sliding down the neighbors’ driveway on a piece of cardboard.

This was a great exercise for me as we get into the crazy, busy, grown-up stresses of the holidays. I am going to work harder this year to eliminate those stresses. They start with the Dad in the mirror and realizing that my wife and I are getting it right much more often than we are getting it wrong.