Tonight my husband and I were able to go and see Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol at the new (and amazing) Hale Center Theater. I’ve heard the story a million times but it still gets to me every time.  It’s impossible to watch the play without thinking about your own life and where the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future would take you if they were to pay you a visit. Frankly I think it’s a good exercise to for everyone to try and imagine that once in a while to make sure that you’d be pleased with what was shown to you, and if you aren’t to change it while you still have time.

I love the line in the story that states:

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its might Founder was a child himself.”  – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Christmastime tends to bring out the inner child in all of us if we allow it to. If you don’t believe me then try driving in your car with the song “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey playing on the radio and NOT sing along to it at the top of your lungs…impossible… I don’t care how serious of an adult that you are, I truly believe it is literally impossible to hear that song and not belt it out as loud as you possibly can like a little kid full of joy and excitement.

And let’s face it, there is little as exciting as seeing all the beautifully wrapped packages with their big, bright bows sitting under the tree. You can’t help but wonder which of them is going to have your name on them and what is going to be inside.

And then there are the stockings…just seeing them hanging on the mantle one can’t help but feel that anticipation of being able to open the stockings full of goodies, and lifesaver books, and even the healthy orange at the bottom that Santa uses to minimize the amount of stuff necessary to fill that stocking to the brim.

And who doesn’t feel like a kid as they roll that sugar cookie dough and get out the cookie cutters shaped like Santa or the Angel?  And there is not a person out there who at any age doesn’t dip their finger in that bowl of frosting to sneak a taste as they are decorating those cookies.  It’s like that little kid inside of you just can’t stop themselves from biting the head off at least one gingerbread man and giggling about it.

Allowing his inner child to come out helped Mr. Scrooge go from being a grouchy old man to a happy, generous person who couldn’t help but spread Christmas cheer to all he came in contact with. And allowing our own inner child to come out will do the same for all of us. So turn on that Mariah Carey song and bust out the frosting because you’ve only got 10 more days left to excuse your childlike behavior so live it up and get your jolly on!

“God Bless Us Everyone!” – Tiny Tim

~Amy Rees Anderson