brightening the night

Ivar and Elsie are thrilled by Christmas lights. They announce each house we see and narrate what they are seeing. One night Ivar yelled, "mom! look at that very tall tree with lights at the tippy top!" I pulled over and we took in this tall tree.

I started to think about the person who stood on a ladder, or used a fancy pole to hang the lights we were admiring. I felt grateful for them and I sort of recognized what a cool tradition this is, where home owners take part of their weekend and, especially in Minnesota, freeze their fingers off in an effort to brighten the winter with their Christmas lights.

I looked at this tall evergreen and saw Ivar's eyes in my rear view mirror. And I almost pulled into the drive way to go and thank whoever hung the lights.

But then I had a different idea. I have friends who take an annual Light Drive with their kids in their jammies, hot chocolate in their sippies and head out into the night to zig zag through their neighborhood. I decided  we could do something similar, and make a dozen thank you notes and take along, taping a note of gratitude to the door of our favorite light displays.

I ordered my stationary at Tiny Prints and was so excited when the cards arrived. I wrote a note on each card and had the kids help me decorate the envelopes. And then on Saturday night we took the kids on a Christmas Light drive.

I explained what we were doing to Ivar, telling him that we were giving out "awards to houses that had pretty lights on them." He was all in. He yelled every time he saw lights, told us to "stop the car" and "give them an award!" The best part was that, in his mind, the quantity of lights had nothing to do with who deserved an award. If a house had a single strand of lights, he wanted to stop the car.

Rory and I, on the other hand, were a little more particular.

I walked the notes up to the houses and taped them to the door. Except for the houses where I had been spotted already, and then felt obligated to explain why I was there. That led to some awkward moments and story material for another day. I would advise just to tape the thank you to the door.

All in all, it was awesome. It felt like a fun way to share gratitude, to give a little credit and kudos to the person who took the time to hang their lights, and best of all, Ivar understood what we were doing and the joy that comes from a grateful heart. This will be a new tradition for us. And I really hope it catches on.