Holiday Spirit

Thanksgiving is finally over. This is the first year that I did not cook a single thing. In fact my kitchen had almost the entire day off. This never happens. Ever.

Because our families live so close to us there is no way around having to split up each holiday between the two. So we spend half the day with his family and half the day with mine. This is exhausting. I'm not one for the holidays anyway. All the decorations and the scented candle things, and the endless list of stuff you have to do. However we have children, one of which is just starting to get into the whole Santa thing. It's unavoidable. There is just no way around a bouncing three year old full of Christmas cheer......unfortunately.

So, this year we (by we I mean I) will be making cookies for "Santa", putting up an ugly plastic tree, and hanging those super fragile glass ball ornament things. You know the ones, they break at the slightest bounce. Now that would be enough by itself to give me a headache. Our oldest daughter has been making me sing Christmas songs at bedtime. This brought to my attention one thing.

Before I had kids I knew every line to every lullaby and Christmas song I had ever heard. The minute we had our first child my mind went blank. It became encores of "rock-a-bye baby da da duh duh..." Because I couldn't remember the rest of the stupid song! So now I'm online looking for Christmas music because my three year old is telling me "MOM!! That's not how it goes!!" and I'm like, "Well if you know it you sing it you little Christmas Troll."

Which brings me to the last and possibly the most terrifying realization. This year I am 99% sure that my hubby and I will be woken up to sounds of "MAMA, DADDY IT'S CHRISTMAS" at the highest decible possible for three year old vocal cords. At that time I will look over at the digital alarm clock and there glowing bright and evil it will read.......4:00 am. I will then stumble my way to the kitchen half asleep and proceed to make the strongest pot of coffee known to man, grab one of those huge black trash bags and surrender to the curse that is wrapping paper and the tape that manufacturers think is necessary on every single opening point of every single toy. Did I tell you just how much I hate tape? All toys will be opened at our house by 5:00 am and while they play quietly (hey, I'm hoping here) I will consume the pot of coffee and try to be reasonably awake for the rest of the morning. Of course that's the point where we take our day and with a giant holiday butcher's knife proceed to chop the damn thing in half.

Merry Christmas, Holiday, whatever the hell they're calling it now!