All we want for Christmas

Anya gave me her list for Santa yesterday. It was initially a top 10 list, but I had her add a few more items after I saw what she’d asked for.

She wants a cat (she knows I’m allergic). She wants a car — a real, grown-up automobile. For her, not me. She wants COVID to go away. As we discussed her replacement items (“Gee, honey, I don’t think a car is going to fit on the sleigh, and anyway you’re 6 years away from being able to drive it”), her top pick was a COVID shot.

This child asked for a vaccination against a global pandemic and 15 packs of gum in the same breath. What a world. What a childhood.

I get it, though. Recently I entered a Christmas wish list contest. I do not win contests, but what harm, right? After much hemming and hawing, I asked for:

1. A new car
2. New kitchen appliances
3. New living room furniture

It felt all kinds of ugh, asking for stuff like that. It’s not even really what I want. What I want more than anything is this:

1. My mother to be well again
2. This stupid pandemic to go away so my kids can have something resembling a real childhood
3. Peace, time, and/or hope. I’m not picky.

So…I mean, a car is a big ask. But compared to my mother’s health, it’s nothing. Hell, she could buy a car in what she spent on medical bills last year. I’d pay twice that for just a little more time with her. Ten times that.

What I want for Christmas is for it to be a good one. We need it to be good. I need it.