The Christmas craziness is officially underway for the Popovits family. Right now I am sitting at the airport, watching my little one run around a packed departure gate. Actually, my daughter just came running out of the bathroom and exclaimed at the top of her lungs, “Daddy, I went potty!” I’m sure everyone enjoyed that.

We’ve traveled a lot with Ava over the last 3 and a half years and one thing I’ve noticed is that while most of the time parents with little ones are looked at with disdain and frustration by others at the airport, during Christmas no one seems to care. In fact, they almost enjoy it.

At Christmas there seems to be an extra measure of travel mercy for little ones. For example, this morning the girl who took our order at McDonald’s responded to Ava’s energy not by rolling her eyes but by sliding her a toy - a My Little Pony that she was very grateful for - and offering a “Merry Christmas.”

Whether you love Jesus or not, it’s crazy how the celebration of Jesus’ arrival affects almost everyone this time of year. It’s as if there is something embedded into all of creation that just wants to be a little bit nicer this time of year. Just a little bit, though.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could extend such grace to all people, all of the time? But alas, that kind of peace won’t happen until Jesus arrives for the second time.

Until then, I’ll be very happy with a My Little Pony.