I recently was shopping in a local store that is the go-to place for all things Christmas related.

In addition to Christmas trees, wreaths, evergreen garlands and the like, the interior is a fairyland of Christmas trees. Each one is decorated with a particular theme. In conversation with the owner, after I had selected two ornaments that had 1950’s holiday graphics on a wooden square laced through with a ribbon, I mentioned that both reminded me of my own childhood Christmas moments.

I offered that probably I was channeling my inner child from Christmas Past and Dickens would heartily approve. She remarked to me that the overwhelming theme of trees that year in her store were of a “retro” nature. By that, I took to mean that buyers were attracted in their selection of ornaments, to that which took them back to memories of their own childhoods at Christmas.

Marketers and retailers that take the pulse of trends in their buying forays, well before the holiday season commences, must be onto something. And what IS that something?

I refer back to the Dickens’ quote that prompted this blog. It is taken from his notable success, published scant weeks before Christmas, after several publishing efforts that were, shall we say, less than successful. Of course, I am referring to The Christmas Carol. For him, it demonstrated in its themes, aside from transformation and redemption, that childhood and Christmas were inextricably linked. And, that it is something renewing, and to be cultivated.

In the charming toast on Christmas Day that is made by Bob Cratchit in his humble abode, at table and surrounded by his loving family, he lifts a glass of punch and exclaims, “To the Founder of the Feast; I give you Mister Scrooge.” His decent attempt at including his miserly, bad-tempered employer in their festivities, by way of a toast, is met with howls of dismay by the family.

What they do not realize, at that moment, but soon will, is the Ebenezer Scrooge that WAS lives no more. He has been born anew after his visit by three spirits from his own Past, Present and Future. He is changed and childlike in many ways, because of this new frame of reference.

He is unafraid to be happy, silly, giddy and spur of the moment; in essence, much like the behavior of a child before the world makes him or her guarded and tentative in response to events in life.

So, as you enjoy the spirit of Christmas that surrounds you this year, remember to glance around at the children that may be in attendance at the celebrations this month and, in the year to come.

Their spontaneity will amaze you. Just as Christmas, with its infant babe and Founder, as Dickens remarked, was an early mirror image of them…and of the child within you.