Another To-Do

With all of the hustle and bustle, the holidays are stressful, let's just face it. There is a lot to do and I think we should all give a shout out to our mothers who make this time of year so special. I mean, if we left it to the men, they would throw some garland on the mantle on the 24th, run to Home Depot for a gift card, drink some egg nog and call it a successful Christmas. I think if we all sat for a moment and thought about what made our Christmases enjoyable, the one person who would come to mind is our mother or grandmother. I mean it was the Virgin Mary who really made all this happen in the first place. Anyway, if Mary were alive today I think she would be pleased with how much of a big deal we make her son's birthday celebration. Not the commercialism of it, obviously but the other efforts we women put forth. The decorations, the baking, the cooking, visting family, friends, sharing the joy of the season, watching Christmas specials on TV, going to visit Santa, reminding the children the real reason for Christmas, shopping to give to others, wrapping, and of course sending out Christmas cards. And now I, like Mary, have a child with a December birthday that I want to make just as special as if her birthday was in August. So, to say the least while I am trying to make this season special, there are a lot of "to-do's". Last year, I was trying to make sure everything was set for 1) Christmas and 2) the birth of my second child (which I was assuming I would have surgery in order to give birth). This year, I am trying to make sure everything is set for her birthday, Christmas, and traveling. For whatever reason, the Christmas card got the better of me this year. Don't ask why but something had to be the major stressor, right?!

So as most of my family has seen, we took the Christmas card picture yesterday. Brice knew we were going to do it after school. We came straight home, took baths and got all dressed up, well the kids did anyway. Brice was so cooperative and knew this was important to me. He just went with the flow the whole time. Anna was another story, whining and crying. Pushing Brice's face out of the way. She was miserable! This is so NOT like her. So, I decided that we would try again after naps which meant taking Anna's outfit off, putting her in something comfy to sleep in and then having to get her dressed again when she got up. It also meant letting Brice stay in his outfit but not letting him eat anything that could stain, e.g. chocolate pudding, orange yogurt...

When Sleeping Beauty awoke I was determined to have a good attitude about the whole thing and make it fun for the kids and me. This wasn't going to be another to-do, it was going to be an enjoyable part of Christmas. I knew it would take thirty to forty shots before I got one that I was pleased with. I knew I couldn't get them both looking perfect but wanted at least to capture their true personalities without a fake smile from Brice or a pouty one from Anna. Well, I probably took more like 50 pictures which I deleted lots while I was taking them. Anyway, Anna again did not last long and by this point, Brice was well over it as well. I was getting stern with him because he was not being still. I knew then, it was pointless to continue. One of the ones I had already taken was going to have "to do". I picked a picture, did the card on the computer and sent all forty of them out to the family to see what we had been up to. Done, checked off the list.

In all my stress, I had made it a to-do instead of a holiday memory. This morning I asked Justin if he wanted to take the kids to see Santa tonight, He said, "Why, so you can check it off your to-do list?". I guess I need to stop and enjoy the season, huh? Or, I just might end up looking like this...