Christmas Eve the last few years has been a wee bit trying. Oh look, a post where I’m all complainful, lovely. For some of our kids the holidays are hard anyway and by the time Christmas Eve rolls around they are, well, done. Normally we just do what we’ve always done on Christmas Eve and try to make it work.
This year this is how the days leading up to the twenty fourth looked: Friday we had Christmas with my family, Saturday we had Christmas with my Dad’s family, Sunday we had Christmas with Billy’s family and then came Monday where it’s the Christmas Eve service, going out to dinner, going to look at Christmas lights, then coming home for our advent activity, leaving out cookies for Santa and then heading off to bed. It doesn’t feel like too much to me but it’s too much for some of us. I’ve got this idea that we have to do it the same way we always have or it won’t be special enough.
So Monday night, we’re eating a delicious meal and I’m about to lose my ever loving mind because one of the kids is so over everything. There’s too much snark and there’s too much sarcasm and it’s Christmas Eve for Pete’s sake and I just want my happy feeling.
In fact, look at this lovely mood that the five year old managed to capture when she was goofing off with my phone.
Wow, the family togetherness and Christmas Spirit is just radiating off of me and Billy. Well, at least Stella was still feeling festive.
So after the Japanese Steak House as we loaded up the car, I lost it. ‘Fine, let’s just skip looking at lights this year and go home!’ And we did. And, y’all, it was great. There were no lightning bolts that fell from the sky and Krampus didn’t come and slay anyone from not going to see the lights.
Sometimes less is more. Sometimes traditions shouldn’t be held so tightly. It’s like Sean Connery says in The Last Crusade ‘Indiana, You’ve got to let it go.’ So I did and we had a peaceful night at home. And the hard kid helped me put the little’s presents together and it was all ok.
I mean, did I send the teenagers to bed by saying ‘My face has seen your faces enough today. Go to bed or just go away from me.’ Yes, yes I did.
But Christmas morning we woke up and Santa came and it was great.
....................
.......................
......................
...................
Oh blast. One more year where we didn’t do matching Christmas pajamas. Oh well, next year – just like the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve that we’ll go see.