“Scottie and Hudson always include me in their fun, and I always wish I could return the favor.”
“Didn’t you tell me that Scottie lives somewhere where they have a playroom?”
“The Little House. Everyone who lives there is little, and they do have a really special playroom. All kinds of toys and games and the whole house is a space where littles can be themselves whenever they want.”
“That’s very special. So, we’ll invite Scottie and Hudson, and I suppose Bridger.”
“Hudson will like it if we invite his daddy,” Gunnar said so seriously, I had to hug him.
“Of course, we will, then. And Scottie doesn’t have a daddy, right?”
“No, not now. But someday, he will.”
My boy was so thoughtful. “Then let’s decide what to do. After we have our snack, it will be shopping time.”
Gunnar grinned. “I think we should have cartoons.”
“Absolutely. What kind would you like?”
We spent the next hour making plans while I noted everything in my phone. We were so new as a couple, especially as daddy and little, that this playdate was an opportunity for me to learn more about Gunnar. So the choices he made, whileintended for his friends to have a fun time, were also a window into his personality, which I valued greatly.
We left the café and stopped at some of my favorite stores around town. A party store for some decorations because even though it wasn’t anyone’s birthday, he felt our first playdate was cause for celebration. I agreed. And because it was just a few days before Christmas, we would have to decorate accordingly.
We moved from store to store and finally wound up at the one place I hadn’t seen myself going again ever: a Christmas tree lot.
Over the past several days, I’d managed to get him a half dozen Secret Santa gifts, but he hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe he was in one at his office and just assumed the presents were from whoever had his name there. So far, they’d been something anyone might have bought. A dozen holiday-decorated donuts, a journal bound in crimson leather, and a gift card to a local restaurant to name a few. And those had been delivered to his office, but the next couple were going to be a little more personal, and I planned to leave them on his car, as he had mine. Meanwhile, he’d given me a few more gifts as well. All thoughtful and even more special, now that I knew who he was.
“You all right to do this?” We stood in the tree lot, surrounded by the sweet, spicy scent of pine. “I know I thought there should be one for the playdate, but I’m sure the guys won’t care if you have a tree or not.”
“No, the main activity is going to be decorating trees, right?”
Trees as in plural. We would be making decorations like paper chains and snowflakes for the tree. The daddies could help them string popcorn…the theme for the whole playdate was an old-fashioned Christmas. With all the things we selected together and a few surprises as well. I didn’t want my boy to miss out on the fun of that.
While we planned, he’d been big, but even then I could see the boy in there, the spark that made him so special. I wanted more than anything to be the best daddy I could for him, and if that meant pushing past my own issues to create a magical holiday season, then I absolutely would.
On the afternoon of the playdate, I got everything ready before Gunnar and his friends arrived. A big platter of the cookies we’d made and decorated together, tiny hot dogs wrapped in croissant dough, sippy cups lined up to be filled with milk, and other goodies lined the breakfast bar in the kitchen, and in the family room stood the Christmas tree all ready to be decorated by the little elves who were going to spend the afternoon in my home. I’d covered the table with a plastic cloth and set out all the craft supplies to make this a really fun afternoon, I hoped. My previous Christmas trees had been carefully decorated with designer ornaments and a theme. It was quite elegant, but I looked at the popcorn and cranberries, the blunt scissors and white paper, glue, colored construction paper…even glitter but contained in small shaker bottles. Limited quantities I hoped would not be too big a mess.
And another craft I was kind of excited about and hoped they’d love too.
Stepping into the living room, I surveyed the tree with its brand-new bright-colored lights, just waiting to be covered with little-created ornaments. A smallish train set ran around a track across the room. I’d wanted to put it under the tree but feared it would make it too hard for the littles to decorate. I could always move it later.
I heard a car pull into the driveway and looked around at everything one more time before going over to open the door and welcome everyone to the very first playdate ever held at my house.
A little nervous, I greeted them all and showed them inside.
Gunnar immediately took over, shepherding his friends over to the tree and explaining that his daddy didn’t have any ornaments on his tree and they would have to help him to have a merry Christmas. My heart squeezed as he spoke, but I pulled myself together and asked who would like to get changed into playclothes so we could get started on all the fun.
Bridger and I helped, but the three were so excited, they were wriggly and giggling, and it took about fifteen minutes to get them all ready in the outfits they’d brought. Gunnar’s T-shirt was printed with teddy bears with reindeer antlers, his shorts the shortest, and his knee socks Christmas red. The others were also cute, but I had to admit, I only had eyes for one little, my best boy.
When they were gathered around the table to get started “helping” me to have a decorated tree before Santa found out I didn’t, I brought out one of the surprises, a box of clear plastic ornaments that could be taken apart to insert the zoo of tiny Christmas-themed animals. They cooed over the penguins, reindeer, polar bears, and others, all sporting teensy Santa hats.
“Don’t I remember you had kind of a designer tree in the past?” asked Bridger quietly.
“Yes, I did.” I paused to help take the seal out of a bottle of glitter and screw the shaker cap back on. “But isn’t this better?”
I basked in the glow of the trio having such a fun afternoon. They did their crafts and hung them on the tree as best they could then sat at the counter to have their snack, still talking about their favorite animals before sitting on the floor to play with the train. Then we made a fort out of all the pillows in the house and they crawled inside with blankets and stuffies for a nap. We never did get to cartoons, but that could be for next time. We sent each guest home with one of their homemade ornaments as a souvenir.
I looked around at my house, usually so tidy and now anything but, and I’d never felt more at home.
