The kids got to visit with Santa yesterday. The enjoyed chatting with the jolly fellow. But, honestly these moments are more for us as parents than they are for our kids. Looking at it that way is the only thing that explains why we dress our kids up and bring them kicking, screaming and crying (well, not my kids, but several others in front of us) to “Santa.”

At Cora’s daycare, they try to feature a student every week so that the class can get to know each other a little better. Next week, is all about Cora.  I was given some homework from the school…I thought I stopped doing homework when I left college…and my assignment was to write a letter to the class that would help them know Cora a little better.

Here’s what I wrote:

Good morning everyone. I want to tell you about Cora. Now, I know you all think you know Cora. You know she’s nice, funny, kind, loves to smile, wants to be a princess and loves to talk. But, I want to share with you 3 things about Cora that you may not know about.

1. Cora loves to dance and sing. She has a natural talent for remembering all the words to songs. When we’re driving in the car listening to her favorite songs, she puts on her sunglasses and moves her head to the beat of the music as she sings louder and louder.

2. Her favorite food might be mac and cheese. When I ask Cora what she wants for dinner, she always answers with Mac and Cheese. A few weeks ago, Cora helped us make home made Mac and Cheese. She just might end up being a cook!

3. Cora is always looking out for her little brother John. It’s not easy being the big sister. But, Cora tries to be the best big sister in the world. She’s always hugging John and trying to pick him up. They go together like peas and carrots!

There’s so much to say about a wonderful girl like Cora. But, the best thing we can say is, she makes us smile every day.

You gotta love kids. Without them, we’d never get the chance to brag about anyone other than ourselves.

Earlier today I took the kids the park. Not just any park, but the park referred to as the “Shoots And Ladders” park. Honestly, I have nom idea why the call it that. The park is massive. It contains a water only area, a sand box, tire swings, a centralized mini play area (bridges, slides, ladders, etc.) and an entire section reminiscent of something from Neverland. The Neverland area has cargo nets to climb, tunnels to crawl through and of course slides to, well, slide down. Really, the Neverland area feels like a gigantic tree fort community. It’s cool. Heck, I want to play in it.

Well, as soon as we get there, Cora and John take off running and head over to these very large steps that lead up to a cargo net climbing area. Cora ran, jumped and climbed these stairs. While doing so, she frequently turned back to remind us she was #winning and that we needed to move faster. Her gloating caused her to take a huge spill. She fell like a ton a bricks. We thought for sure she’d end up with scrapes, cuts and tears. Nope. Instead, she picked herself up, didn’t brush herself off and said, “hurry up.” A parent witnessing the scene marveled and said, “that’s one tough little girl you have.” That she is.

Here’s the thing. We all fall down at some point, literally and figuratively. Falling down is expected. Failure is the norm. The real question, the real thing we’re evaluated against is what we do after we fall. It’s how we pick ourselves up that’s remembered. Did we sulk? Whine? Dwell? Point a finger? Complain? Cry? Look for pity? Or, did we take responsibility, learn from the experience and gracefully start again?

I don’t dwell or point the finger. I learn and move on. The quickest way to succeed is to fail. Seriously. Ever watch someone learning how to ride a bike? They fail repeatedly. They crash. They scrape. They cut. They cry. They fall. But, eventually they ride. Failing often and fast, while learning from the experience helps you go from not knowing how to ride a bike, to never being able to forget how.

It’s cliche, but oh so true, they grow up so fast.

There’s an old joke in marketing that goes, if you wait for 100% of the data, you’ll miss 100% of the opportunity.  I genuinely believe in the philosophy.  We all have a certain order we expect things to happen in.  We assume if A happens, then we’ll do B, which will lead to C, etc.  But, what happens if A doesn’t happen?  Do you not do B?

A good friend of mine calls this the “I love you paradox.”  In a relationship if you’re waiting for the other person to say “I love you” so that you can say it, and that person is waiting for you to say it first; well, neither of you will ever say it.  At some point you have to do B even though A hasn’t happened.

A better way to think about this, is how we learn to swim.  You could say, well I’m not getting in the pool until I know I how to swim.  But, you can’t learn to swim, if you don’t get in the pool.  Chicken or the egg, right?  Me?  I just jump right in.  That’s actually how I learned to swim. My parents through me into a pool and survival instincts kicked in.  I was swimming in no time flat.  As the story goes, I learned how to swim in a weekend.  We did the same thing with Cora and she took the water immediately.

If you wait for 100% of the data, you will miss 100% of the opportunity.  Mark my words.  If you want to do something or something, just do it.  Don’t wait.

One of the best things about this mini-vacation has been the amount of time I’ve gotten to spend with the kids.  I was a bit tired to say the least, today,  but I think Cora was equally as wiped out.

One of the best parts of being a parent is tucking your kids in…after you’ve tucked them in.

Landed in Minneapolis late late late last night.  But, it was worth it.

This is what Christmas is all about.  It’s not about $600 purses, new cars, jewelry from Tiffany’s, expensive bottles of wine or any other material items.  Nope, this is what makes Christmas amazing…seeing these two faces after they’ve made sure Santa ate some cookies, drank his milk and shared the carrots with Rudolph.

It’s the little things that are the big things.  Merry Christmas.