We made it friends. Another Christmas for the record books. After all the time spent shopping and cooking and planning and crafting, here we are the day after and what do we have to show for it. Memories. All the memories. The good, the bad, and even a little ugly. But we made it.
My kids were sick this year on Christmas. There is nothing shittier than being sick on Christmas. I know this to be fact. I have been sick on Christmas myself. We spent Christmas Eve morning in the doctor's office. Diagnosis: Sinus Infections for both girls. Merry Christmas. Then we spent some time in Walgreen's getting our antibiotics. Fun. Then we went home and rested, until Grandma came with our presents from her, and after we opened our spoils The Hubbs baked cookies for Santa with the kids while I showered. Because everybody knows Santa will not come if you don't take a bath (or so we tell the kids who refused baths for two straight days, and we were way too lazy to make them).
Christmas Eve was very different for us this year. We spent a lot of time at home. Most Christmas Eve's are spent at my grandma's with my huge, loud, overwhelming family. They were all there this year, but the celebration started early and ended early. With family only there for just the day, I blinked and all the presents were opened. Since my girls weren't feeling that great they wanted to go home early. Even dozing on the short ride home in the car. I was kind of sad that we left Grandma's early. Last year we stayed there until well after nine o'clock. When I was a kid we would always be the last to leave. In college, before my grandparents moved to Fresno, my folks and I would stay over on Christmas Eve. I can remember staying up late helping my Grandma prep for the next day. Eating candy and talking to my aunt well after midnight. That was the year Grams insisted that my mom put an orange in my stocking. Yup, nineteen year old me, with an orange in the stocking my mom still filled.
This year the Hubbs and I spent Christmas Eve playing Santa until the early morning hours. That was new for us too. This was the first year that Christmas required assembly. Since Mac fell asleep in the car around 7, she got up at 9 and stayed up until 10:30, leaving Santa little time to make his delivery.
This was us at about 11:30. I'm pretty sure we saw A Christmas Story at least four times that night. Two of those time were between 12 and 2 am. We were exhausted. But we are parents and this is a memory that we will share as the first Christmas Santa almost quit.
One bike, one pink kitchen, lots of wrapping paper, even a Coors Light:
Santa had left the building.
But the 2 am bedtime was totally worth it to wake up to this on Christmas morning.
Smiles in Christmas pjs.
Big girl bike for our big girl who must have grown overnight.
A very happy little girl who has been talking about this pink kitchen since September.
Santa bought it in September too.
Santa also brought me and The Hubbs a nap. This is a Christmas Miracle if you know us at all. Our kids never let me sleep. I think I got more sleep than him since he was corralling kids while I snoozed. And by snoozed I mean totally passed out since I heard nothing for almost 2 straight hours. It was blissful and wonderful and a very welcomed Christmas gift.
It's December 26th at 10:04 pm and I'm still exhausted from Christmas. It was a whirlwind. It came and went at the speed of light. As a friend of mine always says, "Time always wins". Christmas felt overwhelming and bittersweet. I think it's because as the years pass, my babies get older, and there are more days spent outside the home that in. We were so busy with school and dance and Girl Scouts, that it seems like December was just a matter of days rather than weeks.
Christmas felt really different for me this year. There was something very final about it. Like the years have passed where we can play Santa in plain sight. Gone are the days of using the same wrapping paper as Santa. The girls are old enough to notice that stuff. I felt like I was crossing into new territory, making new traditions while honoring old. Maybe we didn't do every single Christmas craft. Maybe we didn't bake every cookie we wanted to try. Maybe we forgot to watch a few Christmas movies. But thankfully Christmas isn't about what we didn't do. Christmas is always about what we did. Christmas is about making memories out of what we have, right here, right now. So this year, we really did try to squeeze the life out of those last few days before Santa came. We shopped and wrapped presents well into the night. We baked at a moments notice and crafted on the fly. All to make the most out of a season about to close.
As my usual I threw a fit a few days before Christmas. I'm know for them. It's usually because I feel like I'm the only one playing Santa in the days leading up to Christmas. I do all the shopping. I do all the wrapping, and the cooking, and the baking. I feel like I do all of the things. So I get really bitchy and yell at the Hubbs. Then at 2am on Christmas Eve I realize that I do all of those things so he can put together Pink Kitchens that are necessary to bring joy to a certain little girl. Sometimes December can really shit on you. It can make you feel like you are falling behind, because you aren't doing a magical advent with your kids, or making sugar cookies from scratch (for the record no one can tell the difference, promise). I feel like December is my yearly test at being a good enough mother. Like no matter how many times I volunteer for things or help or cook or bake it's not enough. But then something happens to make you see that all your efforts don't go unnoticed. This year, my something was a little girl (Mac) looking at me while I put her to bed, and in her softest, sweetest voice she said, "Merry Christmas Mommy". Thanks Santa, I needed that.
I'm sad that Christmas is over, that here are 365 days until the next one. But I'm so happy and grateful and blessed that we made the most out of every minute of this one. Here's to being Hungover and Happy friends. Merry Day after Christmas.
