A word of advice to all young families out there…do yourself a favor and stay home for Christmas. We did. And it was GREAT! Though after last year…our standards have been significantly lowered. I was a little nervous at the beginning of this week when Grace had a high fever and Dave had the stomach flu, but since we weren’t travelling and I don’t do any extracurricular Christmas activities (Christmas cards, baked goods, caroling, gifts for neighbors, etc.) we were able to weather the sickness and by Christmas Eve no one was in dire need of an urgent care visit. In the interest of full disclosure, I did take Elise to see her pediatrician on Christmas Eve morning, but that is another story for the next post. We didn’t make it through the night without a few (ok, all) of the kids in and out of our beds and us in their beds, but that is no different than most nights.
Probably one of the main highlights of our Christmas experience this year was a last minute purchase by Dave and the kids while they were out on Christmas Eve—a new rug (carpet remnant) for the family room. The old one was seriously ca-ca-doodle-yuk-yuk and had been barfed and peed on so many times, no one would dare sit or lay on it. It is kind of hard to have Christmas not on the floor, so it was nice to have something new and clean to spread out on. Especially since we have all hardwood flooring on the main level and our fireplace and brick surround leaks blows cold air on us.
We thought we were pretty well prepared on on Christmas Eve, and still we were up until almost 1:00 finalizing everything. Dave spent some time under the tree arranging the gifts—which is something that would never have occurred to me so here is evidence of the labor of his love:
I realized that growing up in a family with 7 children, there would be no room for artistry under the tree.
The kids had a great time and gave us all the appropriate reactions to gifts we (and others) had mentally strained over. Since the grandparents have requested photo evidence of their delight, here it is:
Stuart’s gift to Elise: a puppy
Grace’s gift to Dad: socks. Look at the genuine exchange of love between father and daughter. Over socks.
Stuart’s gift for dad: slippers.
Elise: Thank you Grandma Betty! And Granddad too. I am sure he contributed.
Stuart: Thank you Grandma Betty! and Granddad. Here’s how it looks built:
Grace: Thanks Grandma Betty for the Thumbelina dolls. It is nice to have some environmental activists in the house.
Grace: Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Beeks for the Backyardigans. Now not only can I watch several episodes everyday, but I can reinact them since I have all 42 episodes memorized.
Stuart: Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Beeks for the blocks. YOu should see the cool stuff I have built with them. Here—I’ll show you:
Elise: Thank you Gma and Gpa Beeks for the Barn. I can so identify with the animals and their sounds and smells.
Stuart: Thank you Santa for the millenium falcon & accompanying guys. Though I have never actually seen STAR WARS, I am a serious collector:
Grace: Thank you Santa, for increasing my doll population to more accurately reflect Grandma’s not-so-secret desire to have perpetual grandbabies.
Elise is thankful to Santa as well though her gift was not evidenced photographically.
Mom and Dad are grateful to each other and Santa for new bike shoes, snow boots, flannel sheets, and a new printer. We are also grateful for the various other gifts from friends and family.
Stuart and Grace also received really cool “kid friendly” digital cameras which also shoot video from Uncle Adam and Aunt Filiz and have been recording life according to them which intermittently includes mom and dad yelling in the background (not at each other). I’ll be sure to include some clips here soon. If only I knew how to do that.
Though we have enjoyed visiting and staying with various family members in the past years for the Christmas season, we are so pleased with how everything turned out and feel like we have indeed achieved Christmas independence. This wasn’t our first Christmas “alone”, but it was the first time we were able to provide our own entertainment. Someday we may travel to visit YOU for Christmas, but as long as our kids’ gifts are sized to require a U-haul rental, we’ll be staying home.
