The Tip-top, Ship-shape Christmas
What is it about us that makes us think we can create the perfect Christmas scenario? I wonder how many years I have thought to myself, This Year or this Christmas . . . ! and it never happens.
Those Norman Rockwell photos where all the kids’ pj’s match; there are no stains and tears in their britches and not an ornament is out of place on the tree? Does this really happen?!
Those calendar-perfect photos of mom or grandma baking and decorating Christmas cookies in a kitchen spit free of flour smudges on the floor or frosting blobs on the counter? Have you really experienced this?!
The impromptu family photo because it’s the only time to get that photo, where all clothing matches to a T and all eyes are open and smiling at the camera? Where did we come up with that idea?!
Moms, this is the moment! Live in it! Don’t sweat the small things. Better yet, don’t make the small things big. Just live it, this Christmas. Look around you and take in the moment. Enjoy the light in the eyes of your kids, bask in their excitement, and forget about that list of things you’ve got to do. This year, just be.
Play games, fix simple snacks, and lower your standards on a clean and decorated house. Inhale the quiet and the beauty of being home with your kids, and share in their joy by becoming childlike again.
This Christmas, revel in the things that matter most. Tear up the list. Focus on the Birth of Jesus, and what it means for your family. Focus on your kids, and forget the world and its lists.
This Christmas, just be present.
