The image of children sleeping peacefully while dreaming of wonderful things is one of my favorites. Look at how content they seem! Man, sometimes I think I would give anything to see my children look like this.
REALITY 101:
Children are fickle creatures. One minute they're as happy as clams, the next minute you've just ruined their lives forever. No one really knows how or when this will occur, so most adults are just winging it. But, the secret wish of every parent's heart, I believe, is that our children will be happy, especially at Christmas.
It's been a rough year in our house. I'm not saying this to complain, but to just state reality. We have had many issues pop up that have just taken their toll on everyone, including the kiddos. We are all tired and slightly stressed. I'd hoped that Christmas would be a nice change for our family, and that we could slightly forget the rest of the year for awhile. Sadly, this has not become a reality. This is not going to be a post about complaining about our life. Our family has a wonderful life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but sometimes I just need a break. I'm sure you do, too.
As I think about our Christmas season so far, I get a little sad. I'm disappointed. I'm downright mad! It's a week before Christmas. I still have not finished shopping, and I've only wrapped two gifts. My house is a wreck. Our whole family has just recovered from being horribly sick. I desperately need to go grocery shopping. And, we have winter storm warnings for the whole weekend.
Breathe.......
Reality can sometimes give me unrealistic expectations for special occasions. Can anyone else relate?
Sometimes when Christmas rolls around, I feel exactly like Clark Griswold. Maybe that's why I like the movie Christmas Vacation so much. I can totally relate. The Perfect Family Christmas! That's just what this family needs! So I set about making it happen by sheer force of will. I check off items like I've made a list (sort of like this one.)
By the time I'm done trying to make everything perfect, I'm too tired to actually enjoy any of it.
This year, God apparently has a new plan for me. I don't have the time to try to make it perfect this year. It isn't going to be perfect, and that's okay. I will not stress out over everything. I won't. Life is too short to worry about perfection, anyway.
You know, the funny thing is, my family doesn't even care if things are perfect. I bet my girls couldn't tell you about all of the home made gift tags I've made over the years. My husband wouldn't be able to remember what kind of cookies we made last year. They definitely couldn't tell you if the bows matched the paper! Did we even go see the lights last year? I can't even remember!
When it's all said and done, and my girls have families of their own, the only things I want them to remember about Christmas are how magical it always was, how much we love them. and what that tiny baby in the manger really stands for. If they can remember these things about our family Christmases, then I guess they really were perfect after all.
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