A Christmas Miracle: Sometimes it's okay for Dad's to cry.

Being a Dad can be tough. Being tough or at least maintaining an appearance of toughness can be one of the biggest challenges. I have two boys. They expect me to tough, strong, the bane of nightmares and destroyer of monsters under the bed. It means if I stub my toe, I'm not supposed to hop around and holler like I want to. As Dad I'm impervious to the pain and the tears.

But sometimes it's okay for Dad to cry. One such occasion was Christmas. I'm calling it my Christmas Miracle. My boys are 2 and 4. They love each other but they are boys and they've had their fair share of scuffles. Mostly wrestling matches or the occasional pushing contest. But Christmas was different. I don't know if they inherently realized the significance of the day or were just so high on happiness from chocolate and toys, but the Miracle happened in the afternoon of the 25th.

I was sitting on the couch recuperating from the early morning festivities and both boys were playing with the Thomas the Train sets they had opened only hours earlier. For no apparent reason my oldest, Aidan stopped playing and noticed he had a few more trains than Sam.
"Hey Sam, come here," Aidan said with a big smile on his face. Sam got up and when he went over Aidan handed him two trains. "Here you go."

Now that could be grounds for a miracle designation right there, but the Miracle was what came next. Sam said thanks and Aidan stood up. "Sam, I love you. Come here and give me a hug." Sam's smile was huge and he wrapped his big brother in THE Christmas hug of all Christmas hugs. They even gave each other kisses on the cheeks. Yep, I teared up. It was the best present I could have asked for and one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. They played together most of the day that way.

Of course by Sunday things were back to their normal craziness the boys were punching each other in the arm for no reason and Dad got to redeem his tough points by tickle wrestling and giving horse rides.