I am completely and totally devoted to my family. I love my children and husband so much that I would never wish to know a day without them.

I do holler at them quite often and forget to say “I love you” every now and again. I am sometimes too curt and don’t realize how my words can sting. But, I try to do the best I can with what I’ve got; they make me complete and, for me, are my definition of wealth and happiness.

And so, here are three things that capture the essence of those I love the best, that are fit to print and share with you:

In the sassiest of voices, my 6-year-old daughter asked me to start recycling.

“Mama, you do know we have that big blue pail out there for a reason right?”

I chuckled and said yes, I knew what it was for.  I then asked, “Why?”

She replied, “We have to start using it so you can help me save the planet.”

I chuckled again and asked, “And why do you want to save the planet?”

“Because that’s where I keep all my stuff,” she said.

My son and daughter were having a conversation about Santa. I was eave’s dropping. Those are the best conversations to listen to, the ones they don’t know you are there for.

My son said, “Now listen to me carefully. There are going to be a lot of people who try to tell you Santa isn’t real. Well, they are wrong. You believe in magic don’t you?”

My daughter, pie-eyed, replied, “Well, maybe I do.”

My son continued, “Well, you believe in God right?”

She replied, “Yes, yes I do.”

“ Well, God is magic and you believe in him and Santa does magic so you had better believe in him too. Period, end of discussion, Katherine. God and Santa are best friends and full of magic. If I were you, I wouldn’t let them know there was any room for doubt in that brain of yours.”

Every Christmas day, in between the craziness and zaniness of presents, children, animals and relatives, my husband takes one moment out to say “Thank you.” It is the most genuine “thanks” he ever gives me in a year. Those two little words in and amongst all the chaos, and usually said right before I completely and totally freak out, lighten my spirit and fill me with joy. That “thank you” makes me realize how loved and appreciated I truly am. And, I am not going to let my husband read today’s column, because he will get mad and not say it.

There they are – the three loves of my life, and for me the moments that capture their spirits the best, and all because I just wanted to share that with you.

Merry Christmas to you; and may God keep you and yours in peace, comfort and joy this holiday season.

A Yankee with a Southern soul, Gillian Pollock is a wife, mother of two ever-challenging children and director of Christian Formation at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington.