Good Morning! For some reason my husband left, came back and left again 4 different times this morning before he actually got in his truck and went to work and the repeated opening and closing and locking of my front door that likes to stick woke me fully for the first time all week before 8 a.m. I considered rolling over and becoming comatose again, but decided instead that my week of leisure was probably at an end, so I climbed out of bed, grabbed my favorite coffee cup and plopped myself down at the computer while my kids are still snoozing.
I cannot tell you when the last time was that I got to sleep in as late and as consistently as I have this week. It has most definitely been years, but it really feels like decades. Even during summer vacations with no alarm buzzing in my ear every morning, my Riley bear usually has me up before 7, except for a rare day he might sleep until 8:30, but then Scooter will be up at the crack of dawn instead. Well before Scooter came along, Tyler was always an early riser until he turned 7 or 8. I have been so immersed in school schedules, babies and preschoolers the last few years that I literally forgot what it could be like to get more than 6 hours of sleep at a time more than once in a great long while. This week has been incredible. For six whole mornings, right in a row, no one has woken me before 9 a.m. except once and that was at 8:45. I feel like a new woman! When I spoke with my dear friend Mandy yesterday and mentioned this, she said she hated me. She has a 3 year old who likes to be up and have attention, plus she's had to work this week. Sorry, Mandy, I have paid my dues for the last 10+ years. I was due!
Sleep is healing. Sleep is amazing. Sleep might be the greatest thing ever invented! I forgot how wonderful sleep could actually be! And sleep has given me new perspective on the crazy Christmas we experienced now that I have had time to get over it and recover from it. When December 26th dawned, I first slept until a whopping 10 a.m. (literally a Christmas miracle), and then I plopped myself on the couch and refused to move for most of the day. I then took a 2 hour nap in the late afternoon (also a near-miracle that my kids left me alone and also that I was able to fall asleep) before finally deciding that my family should have a decent dinner. So I took 10 minutes out of my non-busy non-schedule to throw together one of those ridiculously unhealthy complete-meal-in-a-box things to scarf down before collapsing into bed again.
The best part of the after-Christmas haze is that when my kids got out of bed in the morning, they didn't come straight to get me. They were sidetracked on the route from their bedroom to mine by the still present tree with all their new goodies tucked underneath for storage during the night. When they did get out of bed, they played quietly for an hour or so with their new stash before finally coming to get me for a cup of milk and some breakfast. Santa really did bring me something for Christmas after all - some much needed rest.
Christmas was a flurry of activity for at least 20 days of the month. There really wasn't a down day between baking, decorating, putting on our annual Christmas cookie decorating party, get-togethers, shopping, wrapping and DRIVING. I think I drove over 3000 miles this month. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it sure felt like I drove that much. Getting it all done took more out of me than ever before and all I wanted to do was reach the finish line, December 26th. Truthfully, I knew that if I just got to my mother-in-law's on Christmas day for late brunch of traditional family favorite, eggs benedict, then I could chill out. The crazy would be over and I could finally relax. Except I still had to drive home - longest 30 minutes of the year, I swear, when all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and pass out.
I felt old. Really old. I looked at my face in the mirror and wondered what happened to it - to me. I've spent the week considering botox alternatives and boarding schools. All this major effort crammed into a few short weeks is enough to make you consider atheism or maybe just bah-humbugism. Not that I ever would. Because it was all worth it - worth every lost moment of sleep, backache, headache, stomach ache and every mile on my odometer. It was worth every penney and more. It always is.
I love Christmas. I love the truth of Christmas, which is that God gave us the greatest gift of all, his son. And I love sharing that with my kids. In the days leading up to the BIG DAY, instead of snoozing on the couch in the afternoons, my sons and I did an advent activity my mom got for us a few years ago 'What God Wants for Christmas' 15 or so times. They were surprised every single time that what God wanted was them (It's a gift box they open with a mirror inside). Scooter's complete and utter astonishment that the best thing about Christmas was that it was Jesus' birthday (like I haven't told him this 500 times) was truly priceless. Telling them over and over again that we give gifts (and therefore Santa gives gifts) because God gave us this most precious gift ever, is what the holiday is all about. Cookies and presents and parties are just the icing on the cake. Christ's birth is the most amazing thing ever and even though my kids get super excited about what they find under the tree on Christmas morning, I spent weeks leading up to the event whispering into their ears the real reason we get to have that joy. I know that at 4 and 3, they aren't REALLY getting it, but I am laying the groundwork every year and eventually it will sink in, it certainly has for Tyler. And when I get their undivided attention for 30 seconds and can get some of the most important information they will every hear into their heads, I know all the other stuff doesn't matter.
And ooohhhh - the presents. I actually spent less this year than I usually do thanks to my black Friday adventure, but you wouldn't know it from my kids faces. Scooter and Riley were completely blown away that they found both a toy Zurg (from Toy Story 2) and a Trunk-Fresh Race Car (a character from the Cars movie with no lines - we had his trailer, but no car) were under the tree since they both know that you absolutely CANNOT find either one in the stores. Believe me - they've looked. Santa is absolutely and completely amazing! He must have made them special, just for us! (Thank You Amazon!) Tyler was overwhelmed with his new Nintendo DSiXL which I thought was crazy (almost got him another regular one), but he has made enough use of the extra features like the camera and the flip notes already to make it worth the extra money. The kids have been bugging me all week about when the brand new trampoline (complete with safety net and bullseye led lights that will flash when they jump) will be put up in the back yard, but I let their dad have a day off after Christmas too and it's been wet and dark every day when he got home from work this week. We are negotiating skipping the bowl game fest tomorrow in order to see this task completed. One guess who will win this particular discussion! :)
The biggest hits came not from Santa, but from relatives. My sister sent the little boys Jedi capes (so that I can stop the endless safety pin/blanket cycle - thank you Asheley) and a Star Wars Lego Encyclopedia. The robes are really nice and the kids have worn them every day. When they opened the book, they were so excited they wanted to read the whole thing before they opened another gift. She also sent Tyler a book he had been asking for (and has already finished) and some iTunes (which he has already redeemed and spent on some new music). Asheley certainly knows her nephews well and they were pretty darn excited about their gifts from far off places. They were also pretty pumped about their pillow-pets from Aunt Du and fishing rods from Uncle Billy (Scott and I were gifted with rods too, mine is pink which is cool, but I don't know if that will make it more likely to get used any time soon :)!)
And then there were the jet packs from Grandma and Grandpa. This was the one item that I had wanted on Black Friday that I failed to get. They were sold out by 6 a.m. since the stores had been open at midnight or whatever. Dad found them online though and they are definitely the most popular thing my kids got this week. Buzz Lightyear jetpacks that Scooter and Riley wear over their shoulders. Complete with a big red button they press which makes the wings pop out, light up, and produce flying sounds along with the traditional 'Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!' in Tim Allen's voice before you push the button again and the wings go back down. Loud, but fun. The kids have been wearing them every day, even Tyler has tried them out more times than I care to remember. Uncle Matthew and Aunt Tara made a splash also with a huge Evil Dr. Pork Chop flying ship (from Toy Story 3) that came with a million pieces. Matthew also completed Tyler's essential Beatles collection with 4 more CDs. He was very excited and I know that any road trips this year will be accompanied with the White Album and Abbey Road now in addition to the Sgt. Peppers and Yellow Submarine we were priveleged to hear on the way to Wisconsin this summer.
Scott made use of his brand new mini-cordless drill I got him immediately by opening and closing battery compartments on toys (I joked that I did most of the work leading up to Christmas, but then he goes to work once the presents are opened, getting things out of boxes and working and put together!) and he was very excited about the red sweater that Scooter insisted he have since red is his favorite color. I was thrilled with the personalized ornament the boys got me - 5 Santa bears with all of our names on it and the year memoralized on it - and a huge bottle of my favorite perfume (Chanel No. 5 - I know it makes me old fashioned, but it's still my favorite). I hadn't had a bottle of this stuff in 3 years. You don't buy good perfume when you have 3 lay-offs in just over a year. I had used my last bottle so sparingly to make it last, but it's been a long time since I had that good smelling stuff and it's something I don't think to buy for myself very often since the kids always come first. Oh - and Scooter picked out some Christmas socks for me that are very, well, green. They are actually really nice, but will probably find their way to the bottom of my sock drawer until the next Christmas season arrives. He had insisted I have something pretty though, and Scott listened to him just like I had when I took him shopping.
I was very excited to give some special gifts this year, like the personalized tu-tu totes for my neices and the picture collage coffee mugs for my dad and mom-in-law. I also found a cool hymn book for my mom with stories about their origins and authors. I always get the kids books for Christmas and this year Tyler found 3 drawing books, one with assorted drawing pencils and tools included, under the tree to hopefully assuage his need to doodle on absolutely everything.
Even though my house looked like a toy store had exploded in here all week and I was suffering from sheer exhaustion, Christmas was still wonderful. My brother-in-law's father died suddenly a week before Christmas which was heart-wrenching, but it also brought him home from Iraq for his son's first Christmas which is what we all chose to focus on. I attended another funeral yesterday for a friend whose mother had passed just 2 days after Christmas and my great-aunt Grace passed on Christmas morning. Amid the loss, I realize how precious these times are. These moments with my children and my husband. It's chaotic and hectic and crazy pulling it all together every year, but it's so worth it to make the memories that will last for my children's lifetimes. They won't remember every toy they opened, but they will remember the family being together and the joy we made happen. And now that I've had some sleep, that's what I am focusing on too.
Scooter convinced me to take down our tree last night. I usually tackle this feat on New Year's day or on the 2nd, but my four year old was ready for some more floor space to spread out his new treasure trove of toys so I complied. There is still quite a lot of un-decorating to do, but I am kind of pleased my new year isn't going to start with a huge task that makes me more crazy than putting everything up does. As happy as I am to get all my Christmas stuff out after Thanksgiving, I am always more than ready to put it all away again when Christmas is over. Time to get back to normal, right? There is a science project looming and a spelling bee scheduled next week. There is a ridiculous amount of organizing to do that I have been putting off. I have a list of projects a mile long to tackle soon and a barrage of doctor's appointments and parent-teacher conferences and school projects and tests that are barreling towards me in the next few months.
I think I put a lot of life on hold to make Christmas happen and now I have to get back to it all. Sigh. The kids will never be just this age again, have just this particular level of excitement and joy. It's different every year, even in it's sameness. I'm so glad we got to spend it together and now I'm so glad it's over. As Scotty says 'One more Christmas in the books!'. I hate it when he says that as soon as the gifts are opened, but about a week later I am right there with him.
I hope you all had an excellent holiday and got to be with those you love. And I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, New Year!
God Bless!
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