Life with Kids and Traveling with them too!

 We started our holiday Hustle and Bustle with our 2nd “Happy Birthday Jesus Party” (a tradition we started last year to teach our kids about our faith and about giving rather than receiving).  Honestly, I wanted to pass on the party this year.  I kept thinking about the work involved, the food, decorations, cleaning before the party, cleaning after the party, etc. etc.  When I mentioned possibly skippping the party this year, I saw the disappointed look on my daughter’s face & decided the party would still be on.  It was worth the work.  I realized the party wasn’t for my benefit, and to see the look on all of those little people faces as they sang “Happy Birthday Jesus” was, well, priceless.  Then there was the decorating of our Christmas tree.  Admittingly, I suffer from some minor OCD, and I wanted our tree to be just perfect.  It also didn’t help that I had just attended a Christmas party and the tree looked like something right out of a Macy’s store.  As my kids placed all of the ornaments on the lower, right side of our tree (some on top of the others), I secretly cringed at my husband, wanting so desperately to move the ornaments around and make it just perfect.  Knowing exactly what I was thinking, he laughed hysterically as I kept my OCD in check and praised them as they decorated (this took a lot of restraint on my part).  When they were finished, my son exclaimed, “Yay!” excitedly.  My daughter said, “Isn’t it the most beautiful tree you ever saw?”   Deciding I needed to “edit” the words that came out of my mouth, I took a look at the tree and than realized my editing was no longer necessary.  It was just like they described.  I looked at my kids and said, “Yay, it is the most beautiful tree I ever did see.  It is exactly the way it should be.  It has character and its unique!”  My daughter and I than spent a weekend making our annual sugar cookies.  Usually I’m all about being neat, not using too much frosting…you get the idea.  I decided this time - no rules.  My daughter could let loose and let her artistic decorating ideas flow like crazy.  Boy did she!  We ended up with several cookies that had about a gallon of frosting and another gallon of sprinkles!  While they were very, very sweet, they were worth every bite.  Plus, I was rewarded at the end of the day when my girl told me that she had the Best Day ever with Me!  And not to mention my son was more partial to her Super-Frosting cookies than he was to mine - this took her to Cloud 9!  Recently, my daughter decided that she was going to write a letter to Santa.  I agreed knowing the pony she has been wanting, would of course be in this letter.  When she was finished with the letter she asked me to put it in the mail for Santa.  I asked to read it first.  She had “written” two letters. One from herself and one from her brother.  Instead of writing a letter she drew pictures on the card with her wishlist for Santa.  On her card was a rainbow, grass, and a smile.  On her brother’s card was the sun, flowers,  and another rainbow.  “This is what you want for Christmas?”, I asked.   She looked at me innocently and said, “Yes, mommy.  I love all these things.  Oh, I might want some stickers too.”  I immediately felt completely inferior to this little being who seemed to be the incarnate of Mother Teresa.  Where was my child?  Where was the “Dear Santa, Can I have a pony?”  Still shocked and on the verge of tears, I said, “Okay, let’s get these in the mail.”  She responded with, “Mommy, do you think Santa will give us these things?” Hmmm…how to answer this?  With my best spur of the moment response, I said, “Sweetheart, I know you will see all of this soon.  After the rain stops, we’ll look for your rainbow and the sunshine.  We’ll also look for the grass and the flowers.  The smile is pretty easy - each morning when Daddy & I see you and brother, the first thing we do is smile.  You are a lucky girl, not only do you have Santa, Mommy & Daddy who love you - but you have Jesus and Mother Nature too!”  She seemed pleased with my answer.  After about 5 minutes of staring at the cards in my hands, my daydream was interrupted with,  “MOMMY, BROTHER WON’T GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK!”   Incarnate of Mother Teresa now gone…my 5 year old is back…..

Happy Holidays to All of You!  May you experience the “joy” of Christmas through the eyes of a loved one!

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