"We don't want a christmas tree. We want the Grinch."

What is one of the most ubiquitous Christmas traditions? Every Christmas, just about every family I know (and plenty I don't) celebrates the holidays with a bright green tree covered with colorful lights and, to top it all off, a shiny silver star. Ever since I can remember, one of my dad's favorite activities has been dragging us out to some parking lot where there's a tent full of trees and a competition to get the biggest tree that will fit on the roof of our car. Back at home, in between my mom yelling at my dad because the tree is too big, and my middle brother and I arguing over who is better at crowding ornaments onto only one side of the tree, all of us are also making sure Calder doesn't try to bite a glass ornament or knock down the tree.

This year, when we asked Calder what tree should we get, he told us he didn't want a tree. He wanted an inflatable Grinch! You see, starting around Halloween every year, Calder starts pulling up the song "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" on YouTube. If you've ever watched the video, the animation is really great. The Grinch twists his head 360 degrees, he steals an entire Christmas tree, and you can sing along to words like "Stink" "Stank," and "Stunk." So whenever Calder starts playing the video, we know the Christmas season is upon us.

So it was a no-brainer that when Calder said no to the tree, we scrambled to find an inflatable Grinch to put all our presents under. When we put up the Grinch, nobody argued. And the smile on Calder when he saw the Grinch filled us with something pretty amazing--love and pride and the spirit of family and giving. And Calder's huge smile also meant that this Christmas tradition was his gift to us.