WHAT ARE YOU PASSING DOWN TO YOUR KIDS? YOUR BEST OR YOUR WORST?

Do you think about what you’re passing on to your kids?

We spend a lot of time talking about all the things we pass down to our children. My eyes, forehead, and amazing sense of humor are just a few of the things I get to pass down to mine.

We don’t talk much about the parts of ourselves that we work so hard to keep to ourselves, terrified to pass it on to our sweet babies.

There is more from my childhood I keep tucked away from them than traditions and memories I share.

Christmas sits squarely in the parts of childhood I prefer to keep tucked away. It brings up all my shit.

And yet I chose the most Santa ass name ever in Nick North.

Anyway. Yesterday we decorated the tree. I mean who doesn’t love decorating trees with cute stuff and shiny lights? Right?!?

We spent hours going through each ornament, remembering what year we got them, telling stories, wearing reindeer antlers and singing along with Mariah. We ate mint m&m’s and “fancy chocolate” and it was EVERYTHING.

It dawned on me while looking at them all smiling and singing, that this is everything little boy me could have ever dreamed of. It’s more really. Sometimes I think back to my own Christmas’ growing up and am just in awe of the fact that this is the life I created for myself.

And more importantly this is the life I created for them. When they think of Christmas years from now their memories will be filled with love and laughter and joy.

Never would I have thought that I could pass joy and laughter and love down to my kids instead of my own shit. That I could choose to give them my best. Never would I have thought that I could write a completely new story, but it turns out I can! And so can you.

Sometimes we just have to survive long enough to write our story ourselves.