For the first time in at least seven years, I was able to really enjoy Christmas. I'll admit I have become a Christmas scrooge. Last year was a train wreck. Dealing with Todd being in the hospital and then a rehab center for 6 weeks total. I just didn't give a crap about doing anything for any holiday. For six years before that I was working nights for the Postal Service, and this time of year being the busy time....well it was a given that I was tired and grumpy. My kids got cheated out of me being the kind of mom that I wanted to be....the mom I grew up with. So this year even though I desperately need to find a job, I put off seriously looking for one, and I told myself I was going to do everything that I planned on doing. For the most part I did.
As we bring the Christmas season (Ok I'll be honest it got a little long....2 weeks for Christmas would be perfect), to an end, I look back over the last few weeks and feel like I did ok. My first priority was to not let myself get stressed out over time and money and presents. I let the kids know ahead of time that this year was going to be fairly small. I wanted to focus on spending quality time and doing things that we could enjoy rather than buying things. And they were totally ok with that. We baked cookies and made English toffee, went to the Junior High Christmas concerts for choir and orchestra that my daughter was in. We hung lights on the house, something we haven't done in years. The tree went up shortly after Thanksgiving (a very rare occurrence) and the house decorated. We made gingerbread houses and watched Christmas shows and went Christmas shopping. I made homemade cinnamon rolls with my mom and sister all day one day. I love spending time with my family. We had my family Christmas party where we do our annual Christmas program and stop the craziness of the holiday to remember the true meaning of Christmas. My daughter and I had a girls day out and got our nails done and went to lunch. We enjoyed our time together and took pictures. Just like Thanksgiving it was family time that was needed. Having a little boy that still believes in the magic of Santa made everything that much better. We were up by 7am opening presents by 7:30, then spent the day relaxing while the kids played with their new toys and gadgets and stuff. It was a good day, it's been a good few weeks. Yea I've had some stressful times....I've had days that I had to smile through some tears. But overall it's been good and it was needed and I'm glad we were able to make the memories that we did this year. I've said it a million times....and I'll probably say it a million more but, I have great kids and I am so thankful for every new memory we get to make. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas...and to those who don't celebrate Christmas Happy Holidays.
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