By far, this has been our best holiday season.
Charlotte really, finally, *got* Christmas. She has slowly been embracing bits and pieces of it each year and this year it all just came together. She bought the whole “naughty or nice” Santa concept (despite that we don’t push that idea). She was curious about how Santa delivered the toys (that may have been inspired by Sarah who was very, very curious about that one). She remembered that Christmas has a religious aspect and she wanted to make Jesus a birthday cake. She was thrilled about coming downstairs and opening up toys (years past that didn’t seem to matter to her). She was also considerably more vocal about things she wanted for Christmas, another concept that seemed to just sail right over her head. And when I told her that Christmas isn’t just about *getting* presents, but also about *giving*, she decided she wanted to get her best friend and her sister each a present.
Reading the above, it kind of sounds like my kid finally got into the materialistic aspect of Christmas, doesn’t it? Yes, it does sound a bit like that. But that’s not why it’s worth mentioning, is it?
Sarah really, really loved Christmas. She was so adorable with her bright eyes shining at all the decorations around her. Decorations everywhere but here it seems. Driving down the road one day she hangs her head and sadly says, “Too bad we can’t have any decorations like that in our yard.” Ouch!
Of course, it wasn’t even Thanksgiving when she said this. We put some lights up. Eventually. Decorating the tree was probably her favorite thing. She ooh’d and ahh’d over all the ornaments and took care in arranging (and rearranging) their placement. Totally adorable.
The week in between Christmas and the New Year was … okay. It’s hard to be out of your routine and without the structure that you need. Sarah handles it smoothly. She wakes up each day ready to take on whatever we have or haven’t planned. Charlotte, sweet girl, wakes up ready to set forth the day’s agenda and argue about whatever we have or haven’t planned. Control is the name of the game.
While it wasn’t smooth sailing all the way, the time off has been markedly better than previous breaks. The days were up and down, mostly up. One big highlight was after a little sibling squabble in the basement, Charlotte came upstairs and told me, “I was really, really upset with Sarah, and I wanted to bite her! But I didn’t.” In the end, that’s all I’m looking for. Resist that impulse to lash out. Come talk to me instead.
New Year’s Eve was big for me. We did something I have wanted to do for a long time. We (successfully!) played some games (one game: Uno). It was just me, Sarah and Charlotte. The little guy and the big guy did their own thing (watched college basketball). Charlotte didn’t play every hand, and Sarah did a lot of pouting, but we played! And it was fun! (And I won!) An evening of game playing shouldn’t seem like a big deal but, like with many other things, it’s taken us a bit longer to arrive there than I expected. (Say it with me: “And that’s okay.”)
Here’s hoping 2012 brings more good times to be enjoyed by all of us.
Happy New Year, friends.
Maddy
January 2, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Most of us made it to New Year as well. My daughter and her husband were away in England and my youngest son and Nonna conked out for the great countdown, but we had a good time with games and nibbles. Every year gets better.