By Jenny Rapson 
It’s the holiday season, and I am all ready to feel those Christmas feels! After a crazy couple of years, we deserve some extra good cheer this season, am I right? However, I may have gotten way more that I wished for when I saw this new McDonald’s Christmas ad this morning because it’s also my baby girl’s 15th birthday—and this holiday ad hits ALL the “little girl growing up” feels with a side of “holiday magic.” It made me tear up big time!
The new McDonald’s Christmas ad follows a little girl named Matilda and her imaginary friend Iggy.
Iggy comes to life when she offers him a “reindeer treat” during the holidays. As we listen to the hauntingly beautiful strains of Mabel’s cover of “Time After Time,” we see Matilda and Iggy grow up and celebrate the holidays together.
And then, inevitably, Matilda beings to grow up.
Moms especially feel the ache as we watch Matilda develop from shy and hesitant to confident and social. Through it all, Iggy is by her side . . . until he isn’t.
Because we also see that as Matilda grows, she puts Iggy away in the closet of her childhood. Soon after, real-life friends arrive to take his place.
Cue. The. Tears.
At this point, I was so busy screaming for Matilda to let Iggy out of the closet that I almost missed the ad’s final sweet development. A grown Matilda, meeting her friends at McDonald’s (of course, I mean, it IS an ad after all) gets a twinkle in her eye when she sees a young boy feeding something to an imaginary friend of his own. She realizes it’s a reindeer treat, and it sparks her memory.
Soon we see Matilda searching in vain to find Iggy—and a piece of her sweet childhood.
Disappointment clouds her face as she finds that the closet she banished him to is now empty. But then, magic! A hesitant Iggy reappears in the closet, and soon the two old friends are leaving reindeer treats out for Santa’s Helpers once again.
RELATED: Everything I Do To Make Christmas Magical is Because Mom Made it Magical For Me First
Cue more tears, naturally! It is such a sweet, sweet scene. This ad totally had me longing for some of the Christmas traditions of my childhood, like spending the night at Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve. It also reminded me to keep traditions going strong with my babies while I still have them home (this is my oldest’s last Christmas with us before college, UGH! Cue more tears!).
Thank you McDonald’s and Mabel for touching my heart, making me cry, and reminding me of the things worth holding on to.
by Her View From Home 
by Karen Johnson 
