The holiday season brings joy to our lives, but children have their own unique way of making this magic throughout the entire year. Sometimes it's in the things they do or say, and sometimes they can magically make us learn more about ourselves.

By Annabelle Nunn

As a parent, I dreaded the day my child would discover that I was the one placing the gifts under the tree. In my mind, that would take away the magic of the season. That mysterious magic of how just the right gifts – and ones she didn't even know she wanted – made it down the chimney and under the tree.

As my daughter approached the ripe old age of 8, I knew my job as Santa was slowly coming to an end. The grins when I mentioned his name were my first clue that the cat was slowing climbing out of the bag. The Christmas list that included the store names of where the items could be bought was my second clue. The third came a few days before Christmas Eve. My daughter came right out and asked me if Santa was real. I had not been prepared for such a direct question. But I had already decided I would not be the one to tell her; she would have to tell me. As a child, I remember when my mom blurted out the truth because she was sure I knew anyway. I had not. I still remember trying not to cry and acting like I had known all along. So I simply said, "What do you think?" when my daughter asked. She shrugged and walked away. Disaster avoided!

On Christmas morning, my daughter and I headed down the stairs to see what treasures were beneath our tree. We were greeted with presents wrapped in silver and gold and Christmas candy strewn here and there. But the first stop for my daughter every year was her stocking. As she took it down to sort through the contents, she said I needed to look through mine too. Confused, I took down the red and white stocking with my name in glitter and glue on the front. Inside was a neatly folded piece of green construction paper that said:

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