It's Christmas Time Pretty Baby

It’s Christmas Eve and all through the house I can hear my mother’s neurosis loud and clear through the “click, click, clicking” of her heels back and forth from room to room in preparation of tonight’s big fiesta. Christmas for my little family, while living at my parent’s house, means having to relinquish our own traditions for this year while my mom puts on her normal production. My husband and I are trying our hardest to give our son the little touches from our home that are important to us on Christmas but the truth is our Christmas customs will be dwarfed by my mother’s decorations, cookies, and stockings by the fireplace.

Christmas for me is usually all about hanging out with the family, but this year we are on family time overload, and I can feel the strain on us all.  So, as I type this I am carving out a quiet moment for myself by hiding out in the room my soon is using as a bedroom while we live here, attempting to enjoy my Christmas tradition of a quiet day before the full house evening at my mom’s.  But there goes that “click, click, clicking” of her heels again, a single verse of a Christmas song sung too loudly, and the directing of my father to put something somewhere other than where he placed it.  So much for quiet time, I might as well go and offer a hand, and get into the spirit.

Merry Christmas everyone…keep in mind during all the hustle and bustle of this evening’s dinners, gift exchanges, and toast to family that these hectic holidays have a shelf life of two days, and then it will go right back to normal (whatever that is).