What exactly makes Christmas special?

As I went to bed on Christmas night, I asked myself what exactly makes Christmas special. Is it traditions you repeat time and time again that remind you of your childhood? Presents? Simply being with your family?

I wasn't quite sure. What I did know, though, was that something had been missing. It was an amazing Christmas. But something was amiss.

It occurred to me that although I had spent the entire previous week in Indiana with my parents, grandparents, and cousins, which was certainly something very special and out of the ordinary, we hadn't done anything on Christmas that stood out from the rest of the week. In my family, we often open the majority of our presents on Christmas Eve (it's a German thing, yet somehow my American mother's side of the family has begun doing the same thing) and have the biggest festivities on the same night. Christmas is a day to play with presents, have a nice turkey dinner, and enjoy each other's company. Yet despite the fact that Christmas is normally much calmer than Christmas Eve, I felt this year hadn't been festive enough.

I shared my thoughts with my little brother and we came up with a list of things to make Christmas just a bit more special:

- "Santa" has to come: my father normally "disappears" to go "buy a turkey" which oddly happens to coincide with a jolly "Santa" swinging by the home to distribute a small present to each child. My brother hasn't believed in Santa for years, but there's something funny about my father talking in a deep voice and pretending to be Santa for absolutely no reason. Something he curiously omitted from this year's festivities. According to my brother, "the specialness would spread over to the next day" (Christmas).

- I have to be in the Nutcracker. Not quite sure how that would work out, given the fact that I'm about a foot too tall to play any of the children's roles my family used to come see me dance every year. I suppose we could go watch a nutcracker or simply listen to more of the music.

- Though my family isn't particularly religious, I thought going to Church would make things just a bit more special. My mother agrees, saying it makes her feel "enlightened" before we all proceed to devour a tasty dinner and rip open presents. (My brother didn't really agree. In fact, he vehemently disagreed. Anything in between him and opening presents should be eliminated.)

Alright, so there you have it. This is quite a bit longer than I originally intended it to be, but I hope what I've said rings a bell with some of you. Tadah!