Good Morning Christmas

“Good Morning Christmas!”…Ms. Maisie yelled as she sat in the backseat of the car on the way to church Christmas morning. She was so excited to say Happy Birthday to baby Jesus. As if she knew I had an ulterior motive, shortly after we arrived and service began so didn’t Maisie’s big show. Two trips to the bathroom and a glove across three pews later and we made it through Mass.  Calvin carried Maisie over to the manger as her chants of “I want to go home” grew progressively louder. The details of the manger in our church were beautiful, right down to the lighting and the placement of the hay. You could feel the warmth that surrounds a family welcoming a child into the world. They captured it perfectly.

Christmas is my second favorite holiday with the first being Thanksgiving. There is something warm and comforting about Thanksgiving. The family gather’s at my parent’s house for a day of eating, napping and putting on my turkey pants so I can eat some more. To this day, Adam laughs at me every time I say turkey pants.

Christmas somehow loses its luster and becomes about decorating, baking, wrapping, buying and any other “ing” you throw in there that just zings the joy out of what should be a very peaceful and thankful holiday. It is timing, organizing, writing lists and budgeting. Magically we come up with all this extra cash in the month of December that we don’t have any other time of the year. And as if Adam knows my anxiety level has peaked, he comes home and say’s, “I have secret Santa and Toys for Tots to do”. Correction, MY DARLING, I have secret Santa and Toys for Tots. And then suddenly Christmas morning is upon us and there is a quiet sense of joy that overcomes me. I get up extra early so I can shower, have a cup of coffee and just enjoy the moment. I’m not sure how or why it seems to be the one day that the kids sleep in but if that’s my present, I’ll take it. After I wake the kids up (yes, I wake the kids up on Christmas morning) and we open stockings, we go to church and then we come home to make cinnamon buns and open presents. That is the best gift I can get each year. It makes all the stress and anxiety so worth it, right down to getting a sinus infection and hearing my dishwasher finally kick the bucket on Christmas day.

Maisie loved her new kitchen and Calvin said, “This year was awesome!” And it truly was a great year. But in my opinion, every year with my children is a great year. The part I love the most about being a parent is that I have this “corny card” that I get to play every so often. You know the one that makes your children look down at the floor and shake their head? I turn on Christmas music any time I do anything remotely Christmas-ey from wrapping presents to baking cookies and right down to the “Christmas Eve” candle. No one complained until I said, “tid-bit” and then I heard my 12 year old say, “mom, no one says tid-bit anymore”…must have gotten carried away.

I love all the traditions we’ve created in our home including the ones we’ve carried over from our families. Adam’s mother always makes cinnamon buns every morning for Christmas and since we’ve lived in our home he makes them every year as well. After leaving mass, Calvin says “I hope when we walk into the house I smell cinnamon buns”. Guess we’ve successfully passed that on.  

And then there are the new traditions that seem to keep sneaking up on us. I was driving Calvin to karate and we were looking at all the Christmas lights, in awe of how detailed some houses can get. I usually don’t get past the tree, candles and a wreath on the door. Anything outside is Adam’s domain. My only preference has been white lights and candles in the windows. The candles, a tradition from my side, will have to wait until our new home welcomes us. Until recently I thought the multi-colored lights looked cheesy. And then Calvin says, “Mom, every time I see the lights with all the different colors, I think about candy”. So now, I think next year we’ll have to get some new lights.

And then there’s New Year’s Eve, the last hurrah of the year. Ringing in the New Year is a celebration I only partake in while I’m sleeping. Started happening around the time I turned 30. Calvin celebrates with his grandfather and the little ones are fast asleep well before midnight. The week of though I tend to reflect on the year that has past. The year began and I was 8 months pregnant with a 6^th grader and a two year old. Adam and I were working at the same job living in our home of 4 years and just going with the flow. The year ended with two 30lb children and a 7^th grader who was finally convinced to look into vocational schools! The house is on the market, we’re waiting patiently for our new home to get approved, Adam is waiting patiently for a well deserved promotion and me…I’m looking to change up my career a bit, go back to school in hopes that it will give me more time with my crazy kids. And then maybe when this year is over it won’t feel like it went by in a flash.