Well, Santa finally came and the gifts have been opened. My girls were ecstatic with their gifts, which always brightens my heart. The dinner was fantastic (if I don't say so myself) and now, it's over. I don't know how it works in other families, but in our family, the mom does the shopping for gifts, the mom wraps the gifts very carefully to make it peek-proof, the mom shops for all the food for the dinner, she makes her list and diligently works to make sure everything is correct, she spends two days cooking the dinner just to make sure it is perfect…she cuts, dices, bakes, decorates... the whole nine yards, just to make sure that the entire family has a holiday to remember for many years to come.

Then it happens like a smack in the face. THE DAY IS HERE!

She's up with the kids at 4 a.m. opening gifts because the youngest got up to go potty and woke the oldest because SANTA FINALLY CAME!!! The kids rip and shred the packages like their lives depend on getting the gift open and 15 minutes later, all the pretty paper and bows are sloughed from all the gifts and laying in mounds on the living room floor.

She's standing at the stove at 6 a.m. cooking breakfast for the hungry and excited brood. She takes a 20-minute breather with a cup of coffee and the cookbook she will be using, then she's at the kitchen counter, sink and stove for the rest of the day until FINALLY dinner is done. The spread is gorgeous! The turkey is golden, the yams are marshmallowed, the stuffing is seasoned perfectly, and the mashed potatoes are wonderfully creamy. The pies, the fudge, the cookies and everything else is to die for! The family stuffs their faces for 15 minutes. The get up, they walk away, and there's the mom. All that work and all that time and in a matter of 30 minutes, it's all unraveled.

Yet, mom still smiles. All of that work was worth the memory she created for both herself and her family. The kids will grow up and will move on to have families of their own, and each one will remember Christmas with mom. Not necessarily this one particular Christmas, but all Christmases. They will carry on with the traditions that mom passed down from her mother and grandmother.

This was my first Christmas without my mom. She passed away in July. I spent Christmas Day remembering all of our traditions; right down to the dinner we ate. Even though it was a sad time for me, it was also wonderful because I got to start brand new traditions. I thought about being a kid and how wonderful Christmas was. Mom made sure that I had an excellent Christmas every single year. She made sure we were with family, and even if we weren't able to make it home to Fort Scott, she still made sure that Christmas was all about family. Gifts are wonderful, but family is forever.

The next time you talk to your mom, if you're fortunate enough to still have her with you, let her know how much you appreciate all that she does for you. I never got the chance to say that to my mother. I'm sure she knew how I felt, but it was never spoken out loud to her. My daughter came up to me today and said "Mom, Christmas was GREAT!" That was the best gift that anyone could ever give to me.