By Anthony Welch

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that my excitement for the holiday season has dimmed a little.

While I really looked forward to it and loved it as a youth, now I stress when that time of year approaches. Thoughts turn to finances and having to purchase gifts etc.

I’m trying to approach it with a different mindset this year. A lot of that is due to the enthusiasm my son Jaxson shows for the holidays. Of course this is the kid who sings Christmas songs throughout the entire year. He’s also the kid who was telling me what he wanted for Christmas, just after his birthday passed in September.

He’s all about Christmas, Santa, Elf on the Shelf – all of it! And I love seeing the excitement on his face. This year, he’s devising a plan to try and catch Santa on video. (He may watch too many YouTube videos.) As persistent as this little guy is, he just might accomplish that.

While I despise winter, and snow, and cold, and scraping windshields, and driving on ice, I’m reminding myself how nice it is to see Christmas lights popping up around town. Visions of Christmas cookies are also dancing in my head. I’m battling bulge, but you best believe I’ll partake in some butter cream-frosted Christmas cookies!

Being a parent is helping me to remember the joy I experienced around the holidays as a kid. I hope you all enjoy a happy holidays with your loved ones. Thank you for reading Life After 50.