From the waiting room …

Published:  Wednesday, December 2, 2009 (3 months, 1 week ago)
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 Dr. Celeste Lopez

It’s a magical time of year and one of the best parts of the season are the traditions that we share with our families. Our holiday memories are centered around the stories and traditions that we pass down to our children.
One of my son’s favorite traditions is throwing sugar cubes on the roof on Christmas Eve for Santa’s reindeer. That led to a surprise for my son last Christmas morning when he discovered that Rudolph had snuck into our house looking for more sugar cubes and made a little bit of a mess knocking the entire box of sugar cubes on the floor before Santa chased him out of our house.
We also discovered that reindeer aren’t house-trained, the good news is that the reindeer droppings for Christmas reindeer are made of chocolate chips. Santa’s note informed us that this is true for all the reindeer except Prancer, who leaves gumdrops.
My son has also discovered through the years that Santa can be quite forgetful sometimes. Several years ago, he lost his glove and asked Joe in his note if he could look for it. Joe was delighted when he found it in the snow when he was outside playing later that day. He left it by the fireplace and Santa picked it up the following week and left a nice note. Once he even lost Joe’s toy sack which rolled off the roof and landed in the backyard.
Over the years, my son has begun to think of himself as Santa’s buddy, once telling Santa when he saw him at the mall “you remember me, I found your glove.” Being Santa’s buddy is nice but can be a problem when he is convinced that Santa would never put him on the naughty list. As he grows, traditions will change. This year we are starting a new tradition. We will have “Wish for the World Night” every Friday night we will wish for something that we think will make the world a better place and then discuss what we can do the following week to help make that wish come true.
This is the time of year where everything seems possible and it seems like wishes can come true. It is the time when we look back on the year and count our blessings. Enjoy the things that have gone well and learn from the mistakes that we have made. Take the time to look at pictures and videos and remember what your favorite parts of the year were. Carry on old traditions that have passed down for generations or make new ones that are special just for your family. Whether it is walking around the neighborhood looking at the lights, baking special treats, or reading the same holiday story every year, it will stick with your kids.
I remember very few presents that I received growing up but I remember wearing a brand new pair of pajamas every Christmas eve, I remember attending midnight Mass and I remember baking Christmas goodies with my mother the week before Christmas.
The real joy of Christmas is when we realize that the best gift we will ever receive isn’t wrapped under the tree, it is the chocolate smeared little child who is pulling the tree over trying to reach a candy cane. In my case, it is the little boy who snuck 6 or 7 glass ornaments outside and broke them on the back patio because he thought it looked cool when they broke and popped beautiful glass sparkles all over the ground. Some memories are better the older they get.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, full of wonderful memories.

Dr. Celeste Lopez graduated cum laude from The University of Utah College of Medicine. She completed her Pediatric residency training at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She is certified with The American Board of Pediatrics since 1992.  Dr. Lopez practiced pediatrics in the Detroit area for 8 years before moving to Van Wert in 2000. In 2003, she moved her practice, Wishing Well Pediatrics, to Delphos and is located at 154 W. Third Street. She is the proud mother of a 10-year-old son.

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