Around the Holidays, my husband and parents go all out for my kids. My husband loves Christmas and the magic it brings. Growing up poor, he never expected or received much for Christmas so he doesn’t want our kids to ever feel that way; his motto–no matter how much we’re struggling to make ends meet–is: “Bills can wait, make the children happy. Let them enjoy the magic for as long as they can.”

My older son, Denny, knows the big secret though, but he tries to hide it from my six year old, Devin. Denny still remembers and talks about the horror he felt when his first grade teacher decided to drop it on him. He had pulled one of his loose teeth out and excitedly showed it to the rest of his classmates. When the teacher tried to take and throw it away, he screamed terrified that if she threw it away, a tooth fairy wouldn’t come and leave money underneath his pillow and so his teacher had told him that tooth fairies didn’t exist, Santa Clause didn’t exist; it’s moms and dads who buy gifts for Christmas and it’s moms and dads who leave money under the kids’ pillows when they pull out their loose teeth!

I was livid when I found out about this. You can’t even imagine the questions he showered me with when he got home from school that day…

But now he–my eleven-year-old–is the one who reminds me that it’s good for Devin, his younger brother, to believe in magic and fairies for as long as the mean adults would allow it. He says that when Devin is old enough, he’d like to be the one to explain to Devin about how things work. I’m so proud of him; my smart, big boy.

As for my parents, they brought and still follow the traditions of the old country, so to them, New Year’s is a big deal when we say good-bye to the old one and welcome in the new one. Of course, you have to be dressed in new clothes in order to walk into the new year without your old rags and problems following you there and you must wear red underwear that night to bring good luck to your love life.

Every New Year’s Eve, my parents shower my kids with all kinds of gifts; clothes, toys, books…, so that they can start anew. It’s funny, every time I read new books to my kids on New Year’s Day, I can’t help but think of this one old Bosnian fairy tale I read as a kid. It was filled with pictures of the old year. It resembled an old man with a long, white beard and hair. People are waving good bye to him, while he leans on his crooked cane with teary eyes, reluctant to go… and on the next page, there is a young, beautiful woman, the New Year, welcoming us into her warm embrace.

Happy New Year everyone. I have a good feeling 2014 is going to be wonderful.

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