Monday, November 26, 2012

A season of joyful moments to be cherished...once we get over the coughs and sniffles

This picture is on my mind lately.  Pure joy.  And it may have made our holiday card.


When you hear someone say that on the day your child is born you are gifted 940 Saturdays with them before they turn 18 and fly the coop, does your stomach ache?  By the time they turn 5 you have experienced 260 of them....well it makes my mama guilt set in....especially when it was mama who was sick this past holiday weekend and made our Thanksgiving holiday a little less about Thanksgiving and a little more about staying sane and surviving.  


We did make it to part of our Thanksgiving ...thank goodness, because thinking in terms of numbers...you only get so many Thanksgivings where you don't have to hope that your littles come home.  And this Thanksgiving we made it to Ed's Aunt Katy's...but decided to return home the next day because by the time we travelled 5-6 hours in the car...Syd was sick too, instead of trekking on another 9-11 hours of driving to see my side of the family.

Time marches on and another Saturday for each of my littles passed this weekend.  
But we were cozy at home. 
Sleeping in our own beds. 
Trying to feel like the choices we were making, that were best for our family (and ultimately those we loved), were the right choices.  

We did get over the fevers and chills and now just have coughs and runny noses.  Hoping and praying that our weekend laying low will keep the three boys from catching the bugs.

We conquered the Christmas Tree adventure. 
Ed and the boys ventured out at dark on Saturday to get our tree and Sunday was devoted to securing a stable tree in our front window spot.  
Everyone can sigh in relief, our marriage survived, only because I finally convinced Ed that the one dollar garage sale tree stand wasn't worth our marriage.  The guy comes from a family who strives to fix and make things work...but the warped stand that stumped him year after year and brought lots of swearing under our breath as we figured out how to get the tree to look straight...was finally laid to rest.  And in it's place..a sturdy piece of heaven that allowed us to stand our tree up within minutes.  
There may have been some rejoicing...between coughs and sneezes. 

Being run down and sick makes picking up the camera less of a priority.  
So, trying to look at the positive side of our holiday weekend...

The anticipation for holiday festivities will be that much greater since we didn't get to fully enjoy all those we love. 
The tree is up, the halls are decked.  Which means next weekend can be about other holiday fun. 

Lately, I am more aware than ever of the 940 Saturdays that pass. 
The mama guilt that sets in when a holiday cartoon is put on instead of getting out a board game or holiday craft.  
But it isn't about the minutes or Saturdays that we have together.  It is more about the moments that we choose to make and cherish. 
And this holiday season I want to make the most of the moments so that when I look back at this time, I can feel fulfilled and satisfied with the moments I cherished.  So instead of worrying and feeling guilty about a few minutes that may not have been considered moments that I savored...I will rather keep in check the balance of making the most of the moments that come my way and the reality of having three children and a lot of holiday expectations.  

  
This year, because I want to focus on moments, I am preparing a list of activities and ideas that we will use each night around our Christmas tree.  My goal is for our family to spend 20-30 minutes each night doing something together around the Christmas tree....

Some ideas on my list so far...

1.  Making a holiday card to send to someone
2.  reading holiday books 
3. playing I spy the ornament
4. puzzles
5. board games
6. watching a movie
7.  eating special treats
8.  looking at past pictures
9.  building Lego's together
10.  picnic dinner
11.  wrapping presents
12.  beginning gratitude journals
13.  crafts
14.  letters to Santa
15.  sing holiday songs
16.  Facetime with Eli or Morgan
17.  Assemble little gifts for the neighbors
18.  Make Thank You notes to teachers


Do you have any ideas for quiet activities to do around the Christmas tree?
What upcoming moments are you excited to savor?




47 comments:

Heather (One Take On Life) said...

Build a train track around the tree.
I am looking forward to putting up our tree and decorating it. I am looking forward to the wonderment of visiting Santa.

Sorry you were sick for Thanksgiving and your festivities were cut short. I love being at my parents but then sometimes I wish we could be home to just hang out. It is such a short break. I am hung over now from all the traveling, but so very glad to be home.

Beth said...

I love summer and measure my time with my girls in number of summers. I have four summers remaining with my oldest...that's only four! As for Christmas, thanks to your summer bucket list I did the same for our Christmas season. All was scheduled by Halloween (I'm usaully last minute; accepting leftovers)! Not this year, a trip up north, family cookie bake, Holidazzle, A Christmas Carol, dinner with family and friends and our anniversary already scheduled! And a couple swim meets to round out the weekends! Skiing after Christmas to steal family time before e kids return to school. Time is flying by...I'm learning how to make the most of it!

CB said...

We have a train that is actually IN our Christmas tree about halfway up - the track attaches to a base that attaches to the tree trunk and then the train goes around the tree, but up in the air instead of on the ground. If that makes any sense. At any rate, the kids love that thing and we always spend time playing with that each year. This weekend we will be putting up our tree and decorating the house ... putting the Christmas music on and starting to watch the Christmas specials on TV. Can't wait!

Glad you are starting to feel better!

Raina and Andy said...

All your ideas are good ones. We will try to do a lot of these too. Tell your boys t practice a Christmas carol to sing to us and we will do the same (via FaceTime)

Anonymous said...

Aren't you so glad you took the time to relish that nice day instead of spending it packing before Thanksgiving? ??? Hope the boys are all still well and the girls are back to themselves.

I DVR'd a bunch of holiday shows. I plan to try just a few new things this year as to not overwhelm myself. Gotta love Pinterest. ;)

Kim

Ps I think sharing my holidays with my parents now is just as special...less stressful...than it was when I was actually living with them. No more anxiety over picking the right gift...fretting over the holiday concert outfit....now it's about continuing traditions and watching the grandbabies enjoy.

Shell said...

Oh, what a way to look at this! Time really does fly with our kids.

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