I received the best Christmas gift ever. It came in a gift bag addressed “To: Mom and Dad; From: Jackson.” My eyes welled up just reading the tag. After I saw what was inside it was really hard to contain the tears. Here it is:

Yes, I get it now. It’s the most wonderful Christmas ornament and the best gift any parent can get. Josh and I received this at the Perlman Center Christmas party on Thursday.

Josh, my parents and I went to Perlman on Thursday for the Christmas party. Everyone had a great time. We got to see Jackson in action. We put him in the ball pit. He loves to lay in there and move his hands and legs.

His therapist put him in a chair and wheeled him up to a computer so that he could play computer games. Yes, he can play computer games. It’s pretty awesome. His switch (big red button) connects to the computer and acts like a mouse. Every time he hits the switch it makes the image on the computer screen move and play music.

It’s hard for us to see him in a wheelchair, but we can’t deny that the chair provides great support and he doesn’t mind being in there.

Jackson got to see Santa… again. He’s been the busiest little guy this holiday season. He’s been invited to more holiday parties than Josh and I combined!

The last party activity involved eating holiday pudding. Jackson’s occupational therapist emphasized the importance of playing with your food. Okay, she didn’t exactly say “play with your food”, but she did say something like, “fingers-to-mouth” eating. We’re supposed to put the food on his fingers and put his fingers in his mouth. This is an effective way to get him to eat more food. We practiced at Perlman and we also practiced at home this morning:

As a parent I’ve learned two very important things: The best gifts are handmade gifts from your kids (I now understand why my mom kept all my very ugly, handmade ornaments). And, I now know why children have so many stains on their clothes! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!