Santa’s Surprise Stop

By Paige Tucker

Christmas is… HERE! It’s my most favorite time of year! The family and friends, the music, the decorations, the excitement — it all makes for a spectacular season.

  These days, I feel like a kid at Christmas again, getting to see all the magic through Julia Reynolds’ big blue eyes. The holidays get better and better the older she gets. Her Christmas list grows longer by the day, and she just announced to us at the dinner table that, “Santa was watching!” Can you tell we’ve been using that line lately?

  The excitement of actually being a kid at Christmas is something I remember all too well: the never ending countdown to the big day, the impossible wait to tear open gifts and the sleepless night before finally waking up to Christmas morning.

  One Christmas Eve, when I was about 7 years old, I was having trouble falling asleep with all the excitement and anticipation of a visit from Santa Claus. I was tossing and turning in my bed when out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of someone standing in my doorway. It was dark, but there was just enough light to see the figure was draped in a velvety robe.

I was terrified and started screaming my head off when I realized Santa was at my door! I wanted Mr. Claus to come down the chimney and leave toys, of course, but I was not prepared for a face-to-face midnight meeting.

As it turns out, neither was “Santa,” who was also shrieking, clearly just as startled as I was. My dad sprang from his bed to see what was the matter and found the ruckus was coming from MY MOM and me. That’s right, I thought my mom in her deep purple-navy velour housecoat was Santa peeking in on me! I can replay the scene in my head so vividly to this day, and over the years my family and I have had great laughs over the mistaken identity. 

  Christmas memories are good like that. They are rich and dear and heartwarming. In many cases, they are also often the product of a mother’s blood, sweat and tears. Moms do so much to make Christmas magical and memorable.

  But before you break a sweat or burst into tears trying to fill your child’s memory bank, may we remember you can’t buy Christmas peace and Christmas joy doesn’t have a price tag. The best memories are usually those that don’t fit into any package. May your holidays be happy and your hearts full in the new year!

After twelve years in local news, most recently as evening anchor of NBC 26, Paige Tucker is now a work-at-home mom and freelance journalist. She produces two series for NBC 26 TV, First Responders and 26 Women Today, and you can see those stories on Tuesday nights. Paige and her husband have one daughter, Julia Reynolds, who is three years old.