Holidays

Holidays. Funny concept. Kinda like Sunday being called a ‘day of rest’. I’ve come to realize that the word ‘holiday’ changes in meaning as we age. As a kid it was a truly blessed event when school’s out and you get to just loaf around and play with friends all day. As a teenager it’s a big fun social scene with parties and more loafing around. As a college student it’s a much needed break from class; a day at the beach or shopping or maybe catching up on overdue school projects.

As a working mother it’s a never-ending To-Do list which never seems to get done in time. It’s shopping (and searching for inspired gifts on a much too-limited budget) and taking the perfect family picture for the cards and mailing and parties (which you often have to plan, clean the venue and make the food for) and visitors (which is usually pleasant but requires just a little more effort to be on good social behavior) and ultimately, for me at least, exhaustion and usually a cold. This year was no exception. I’m fully aware that I put myself up to this list and have the power to prioritize and trim my schedule to minimize exhaustion but I guess I’m a glutton or something.

My parents came to spend Zana’s birthday and Christmas with us this year. We did some cool things but I was so wiped out that I got pretty sick and wasn’t able to do everything I wish we could have. But I think they had a good time and got to have some grand-parent/child bonding time with the kids who really didn’t know them at all. Zana had been asking me who my parents were and it made me realize my kids are being jipped out of the opportunity to have a relationship with their grandparents the same way I was as a kid. My paternal grandparents were both dead by the time I was 7 and my maternal side lived 2,000 miles away and we almost never visited each other. So I invited my parents, they came and met Zeth for the first time and got to know both kids a little better.

Like a typical kid, Zana was keeping watch on the Christmas Tree activity and would alert us all when she noticed something new under the tree. Christmas morning she came in early and woke me up with the announcement, “There’s too many presents under the tree!” It was true. We were truly blessed and spoiled this year.

Zeth is into shoes. He loves walking around the house in my shoes the most which makes his dad just a little nervous but it’s so funny to see him in one high heel clunking about. He has some Transformer imitation Crocks which he thought were way cool until they started giving him blisters. He is starting to learn to walk with rubber slippers (‘thongs’ to some of you out there), which takes a certain amount of toe-muscle development to hold in place. But he positively lights up and actually cooperates when I put on his sneakers for he knows that those give him license to kick things and run around outside and get into all sorts of mischief.




I have to say I'm grateful for a husband who has learned to really come through on Christmas as far as thoughtful gifts. He used to make excuses for doing nothing because in his large family of 12-kids growing up they rarely had anything to give eachother and Christmas celebrations were centered around food rather than things. Last year he bought me a spa package (granted he was kinda in the dog house for opening his gift from me early without permission). This year it was simple stuff like a new 4GB thumb drive and desk lamp for my new office. What he gave me matters less than the fact that he actually went out and thought about what I could use or may appreciate and bought it just for me. I love that he loves buying clothes for our kids. I think it's great to see what he picks out and even more cool that Zana always loves it. Thanks honey for overcoming your lack of experience with Christmas giving and really evolving in that sense.