Well, it’s the first day of Christmas Break around here. Two glorious weeks at home with my people!
I know the blog has been quieter lately, so I thought I’d pop in this morning to just ramble a little about what we’ve been doing and our plans for the holiday etc. Just pretend you’re in my living room drinking (luke warm) coffee, listening to our battery operated Santa sing “Jingle Bells” for the 900th time, and pausing our conversation every 45 seconds to stop Nora from tearing down the Christmas tree or eating legos. Yep, that’s about right. 😉
So this is my fifth Christmas as a mom (crazy), and it’s felt a little different for some reason. Obviously it’s different because we have two kids this year (the best), but there’s also been an unfamiliar calmness about it that I really like. That’s not to say we haven’t been busy – isn’t everyone? – but I have felt a peace in simply doing what feels fun and right this season, and not feeling guilty about the things I’m not doing.
Exhibit A: I’ve been thinking I wanted to try to make gingerbread houses this year with Sam, but when I finally starting looking into all that goes into it – the mess, the sugar, etc. – I decided it would be more stressful than enjoyable, so we’re skipping it. Maybe next year. Maybe not. I skipped out on the daily Advent calendar this year too. I LOVE the idea of doing a fun family activity or act of service for 25 days leading up to Christmas and hope to return to that some day, but for this year, I felt like it would just be “one more thing” on the ole To Do list. I also *let* our babysitter (who, as you know, is amazing) do most of our wrapping, and Jeff has done most of our baking. I’m 100% ok with not being some sort of Christmas super-hero.
Of course, I’m not entirely a Scrooge! I love sending Christmas cards (I’ll share ours later this week), shopping for everyone on our list, decorating the house, reading Christmas books, and planning fun (simple) adventures for the kids.
We’ve visited Santa at the transportation museum, seen Shrek Christmas at the children’s theater, been to our neighborhood Christmas parade, and even taken advantage of this ridiculously warm weather with park play dates, a croquet tournament at my uncle’s, and a lovely (adults only) wine tour. Tonight we are taking the minivan out to see lights, and tomorrow Sam and I are going iceskating downtown.
I know enough to accept that balance is myth; so, instead, I’m embracing the seesaw. Some days are busy and full, and others require pajamas until noon and naps for everyone. There will likely come a time when the kids ask to do certain things and care about gingerbread houses and salt-dough ornaments (and I’ll likely oblige); but for now, I think they appreciate the simplicity too. Sam’s wonder and joy just decorating the tree this year made my heart explode (and totally made it worth the lopsided decorating and broken ornaments). We “won” an LED light-up snow man at the family Dirty Santa game on Saturday, and you would think he’d gotten the best gift EVER. And Nora… She’s into everything. She loves the lights, the bows, the music. She’s taking it all in. Is there anything better than a kid at Christmas?
So… That’s what we’re doing these days.
What about you? What’s on your “to do” or “not do” list? How do you make the most of this season?
E