Son Up to Son Down

“That, my dear, is the last time you will get that picture.”

This is the text message I received from my mom after I had sent her a photo of my oldest talking to Santa at the fire hall. In the photo, he’s giving him a bit of a side-eye and the gap between him and Santa is the widest it has ever been. Each year, he tends to scoot a little further away and it feels like every inch he moves away from Santa is one inch closer to his childhood being over.

I still remember his first Christmas. He was nine months old, chubby and smiley. He was our first so of course he was showered with gifts from us...