{Insert Child's Name} Christmas Eve Adventure
{Insert Child's Name} had been waiting for weeks for Christmas to arrive. In fact, they'd been counting the days ever since they'd seen the first decorations appear in the stores all around Minnesota. They'd had such a hard time waiting. After all, {Insert Child's Name} wondered, why did everyone wait so long to have Christmas? They'd wondered about that for several days now and when they'd asked their parents that very question, they'd simply smiled and told them that Santa and his elves needed all that time to finish making all the toys and gifts he would be delivering on Christmas Eve night.
Finally, it was the morning of Christmas Eve, and {Insert Child's Name} were very excited that Santa Claus would be coming that night. They were sure Santa would come; he'd come every year before, and besides, everyone said so! Still, {Insert Child's Name} couldn't help but worry that maybe Santa wouldn't show up. After all, they'd never actually seen Santa before, so they weren't completely sure they could believe in him. As {Insert Child's Name} worried, they whispered to themselves, "I wish..."
"You wish what?", someone said. Startled, {Insert Child's Name} whirled around, looking for the person who'd said that, but they didn't see anyone! Again, {Insert Child's Name} heard someone speak nearby, saying, "What do you wish for, {Insert Child's Name}?" This time, {Insert Child's Name} could tell that the voice was coming from a tiny little light that was flickering in the fireplace. There, where the logs had burned down the night before, was what looked like a leftover ember still burning, but {Insert Child's Name} could see that it wasn't a burning ember at all. Instead it was a tiny fairy, almost too small to be seen. If {Insert Child's Name} hadn't heard the fairy speak, they'd never have looked close enough to see it!
"We wish", said {Insert Child's Name}, "we could see Santa for ourselves. We wish we could ride in his sleigh, visit his workshop at the North Pole, meet the elves, and eat some of Mrs. Claus's special cookies! Then, we'd know for sure that Santa would be here tonight!"
"You can do all of that!" said the tiny fairy. "All you have to do is hold me gently in one of your hands, close your eyes, and wish really, really hard!"
Excited, they picked up the little fairy, placed it softly in the palm of one of their hands, squeezed their eyes shut very tightly, and wished, and wished, and wished! Suddenly, WHOOSH, they felt themselves flying up the chimney, and zooming past the stars into the sky! But {Insert Child's Name} weren't scared at all. It was beautiful and fun, and they could see the North Pole up ahead as clear as could be! Within just a few seconds, they'd landed softly in a soft puff of snow. Jason,John,Jerry looked around at the incredible sight of Santa's house in front of them. It was big and bright, with candles in every window, and my goodness, but there were lots and lots and lots of windows! So many windows, with so many candles within them, made the house shine and sparkle like diamonds.
{Insert Child's Name} stepped up to the door, but before they could knock, the door swung open, and standing there in front of {Insert Child's Name} was the funniest little man they'd ever seen. The man wore funny green clothes, and a funny green pointed hat, and even funnier green pointy shoes. {Insert Child's Name} knew this little man must be an elf, and they thought the elf must think they looked funny too, because the elf was laughing and giggling and laughing and giggling some more. Soon, with all the giggling coming from that elf, {Insert Child's Name} couldn't help but laugh and giggle too!
The little elf said, "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Come in, come in!" So {Insert Child's Name} followed the little elf inside and were delighted to see hundreds, or maybe even thousands more little elves busily running here and there. Some were finishing up the toys that they were making. Others were busy wrapping gifts in bright colored paper and beautiful satin bows. Still others were stuffing the gifts into huge red velvet sacks that were then being placed into Santa's sleigh.
Yes! Right there, near the corner of the room was Santa's sleigh, and just to the right of the sleigh were Santa's reindeer! {Insert Child's Name} skipped and jumped and ran to meet the reindeer, and each one seemed to smile and nod when {Insert Child's Name} ran their hands across their fur. Just as {Insert Child's Name} were peeking at what was hiding in each of those red velvet sacks, they heard a loud, booming laugh that echoed around the room. Turning towards the laugh, {Insert Child's Name} saw it was Santa Claus himself, with Mrs. Claus walking beside him.
"Ho, Ho, Ho! Who is this I see?" said Santa. "My goodness, Mrs. Claus, look it's {Insert Child's Name} from {Insert Child's Address and/or State}. We were just talking about them the other day, weren't we?" Santa asked. "Yes, we were, Santa dear", replied Mrs. Claus. "We were discussing which gifts we would be delivering to their house tonight", she said.
{Insert Child's Name} were so excited to hear that Santa and Mrs. Claus knew their names and had even talked about them! But their excitement only grew stronger when Santa said, "{Insert Child's Name}, would you like to come with me tonight to help me deliver toys to all the good little girls and boys on Christmas Eve night?" "Yes, oh yes!" said {Insert Child's Name}, "We would love to!"
So, as the elves finished packing the sleigh, Mrs. Claus helped {Insert Child's Name} find a spot to squeeze into and handed them the most delicious smelling cookies {Insert Child's Name} had ever had. Before they knew it, Santa was in the sleigh, with the reins in his hands, saying, "Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!" And off they flew, into the night, whisking through the stars. {Insert Child's Name} could see the lights of the towns twinkling below, and it was all so very beautiful.
In a very short time, the sleigh glided to a gentle stop right on top of someone's roof! {Insert Child's Name} so wanted to watch Santa deliver these first presents, so they sneaked into the big red velvet bag that Santa put over his shoulder. And POOF! just like that, they magically went down the chimney and into the living room of some very lucky family. As Santa began to take gifts out of his bag to place under the family's Christmas tree, he saw {Insert Child's Name} hiding there. "Ho ho ho!, what have we here? {Insert Child's Name}, you silly children. How am I ever going to get you back up that chimney? It is easy to slide down, but much more difficult to go back up!"
"It's okay, Santa," said {Insert Child's Name}. "We're really sleepy. We think we'll just lay on this soft, warm rug that is lying here in front of the fireplace for a moment. It looks just like the one we have at our house. Wait! It is the same rug. This is our house!" And {Insert Child's Name} turned around and around to make sure that it really was their house. Yes! There was the stuffed bear on the chair by the window, and the puppy was asleep under the table, as he usually was. At that moment, Jason,John,Jerry turned to tell Santa goodbye, but either he'd left in a hurry, or {Insert Child's Name} had fallen asleep very quickly, they were never sure which. All they knew for sure was that their Mother was shaking them softly, and saying, "What are you doing sleeping on the rug down here in the living room, {Insert Child's Name}? You must go to bed now, or Santa won't show up tonight".
But {Insert Child's Name} knew better, and so they began to tell their Mother all about their adventure. As {Insert Child's Name} told their grand story, their Mother laughed and laughed, and said, "Oh, my little children, you've been dreaming, and you've had a wonderful dream."
But of course, {Insert Child's Name} knew better than that too, because they still had the little ember in their hand, the very one who had spoken to them earlier, and besides that, they were laying right here on the rug; right where Santa had left them, and that was all the proof {Insert Child's Name} needed. And now that {Insert Child's Name} were no longer worried about Santa showing up, they could fall asleep in their own little beds, knowing they would wake up on Christmas morning to find the gifts that Santa had left for them and their family.
And that's the end of {Insert Child's Name} Christmas Eve Adventure!
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** BONUS: Another free, personalized Christmas story, featuring your child making new Christmas Friends.
