Some childlike wonder could help the grown-up world too

Time spent with kids can remind us why hope is always valuable

- ABBY McCLOSKEY

got my son an Elf on the Shelf [an elf doll that accompanies a Christmas book of the same name] this year. Do I regret it? Absolutely. But it reminded me of something this holiday season, something too easy to forget in our modern age.

For an otherwise bright child, my son is convinced that the elf [named Tinsel] is real in the sense that he moves himself around the house at night and ends up in all sorts of compromising positions by morning. The elf can even help with various tasks during the wee morning hours. (Unfortunately, I got blank stares when I asked Tinsel to write this column.)

My son believes that the elf is, in a word, enchanted. I never knew this about my child before getting the elf. I wonder how many other things he believes to be enchanted too.

It's what so many of us crave this darkest time of year. The presents, the twinkle lights, the feasts, the songs and the long evenings around fireplaces with loved ones. The hope is that it will all add up to more than the sum of parts. And maybe if the parts are big enough, we might well summon the Christmas spirit.