Category Archives: Christmas

Christmas Presence

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I’m in love!

As I write this, it’s Christmas Eve in my neck of the woods, still quite early. Children are nestled, snug in their beds while Mommy is almost panicked with ‘to do’ lists a mile long dancing in my head. My house is a mess, but festive! The dog needs a bath. My poor Christmas tree, “Sherrie”, is crispy from thirst. Her limbs are hanging low from ten years of homemade ornaments and lifetime memories.  My daughters named her after Steve Perry’s song.  Bless their little Journey hearts. Whew. This Christmas season has got to slow down. For God’s sake, I haven’t blogged in ages! I’m spread thinner than a Baptist minister’s combover.

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December in a good year can be tough. In addition to the mountains of activities and festivities and nativities, my youngest daughter has her birthday right smack in the middle. She wanted a sleepover with NINE friends ” more than anything in the whole world.” And her sister had one the year before, so she played the older sister trump card.  And won. Without exhausting myself further by reliving it, you can fill in the blanks with screams, giggles, pizzas, popcorn, and thousands of Rainbow loom bands. (And please remove any and all sleep from this scenario). But I got gifts too! The mommies brought wine! Any time I complain about her birthday, I have to remind myself it was poor planning on my part to give birth in the middle of December.

Next. My Elf on the Shelf has all but become a third child. Actually fourth considering the dog. I have woken up at three am more than once in a panic realizing I forgot to move him. And I know I’m not alone! As darling as this Yuletide addition is to all of our homes this time of year, he’s also a bit of a pain. This year, I’ve only forgotten to move him once and the little angels weren’t happy. “Mommy, he’s still sitting on the mantle! He didn’t move!” Quick thinking mommy replies, “Well girls, did you fight yesterday?” They glance at each other, “Yes. But we fight everyday.” So true. “Girls, the Elf is not used to this and has reported back to Santa.”

Then, the  Tooth Fairy was summoned.  My oldest lost a wisdom tooth. I remembered it.  Saw it. Congratulated her. Prepared for the Tooth Fairy visit by rummaging through my purse. A five dollar bill. Perfect! Then forgot. Four days later, my daughter plops her little dimpled face into her hands inches away from mine while I’m trying to get my last five minutes of sleep. “This tooth fairy thing is a rip off.” Whaaaa? “It’s been four days! Nothing.” Lots of four letter words like sugar plums danced in my head. “Are you sure???  Did you check everywhere?”” She shot me ‘the look’ reminding me this wasn’t her first rodeo. “You have to write a letter,” I told her. “Maybe she’s sick.”  That sufficed long enough for quick thinking mommy to get my plan in action.  This is the letter I found:

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“Dear Tooth Fairy, You didn’t give me my money yet from my tooth. I want it.”

Next morning, the Elf had tucked it under his little elf arms while canoodling with the Monster High dolls. That silly elf! It was him all along I assured her.  She seemed to buy the idea that the Elf actually did steal the money and the Tooth Fairy wasn’t slack. “Maybe he’s stealing other stuff. I can’t find my boots.” Now I have an elf thief.

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The Elf: Friend? Thief?

photo 4Don’t get me started in the advent calendar. Oops. Too late. Simple math. Twenty four little boxes for twenty four days times two little angels equals hundreds of small items. Right? I’ll admit I was pretty good with it, slipping only twice. But being reminded forty times. “It’s the Elf. I swear I put something in there.” I really have started liking him.

Truth is, the season is supposed to be crazy.  Things will be left undone. Things forgotten.  Who cares?   But in a flash, it’s gone. I’m thankful my children still believe for that too will be gone in an instant.  As I say, you must Believe to Receive! It is funny though when you think what must run through our kids’ minds as all of these creatures: the Elf, Tooth Fairy, and Santa mysteriously visit and play while they aren’t watching.  Hmmmm….

Tonight, I will be with my beautiful angels all dressed up with friends.  We will come home and put cookies and milk out for Santa and make Magic Reindeer Food for Santa’s reindeer. Mommy will have a nice glass of Cabernet by the fire and tomorrow a new Christmas memory will be under our expanding belts.  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year from UnWINEd!

Tammy

Recipe for Magic Reindeer Food:

Raw Oats, Glitter, Carrots, Apples

***Leave out for the Reindeer!

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Awww.  I’m really going to miss this little guy:)

‘Twas the Night before Thanksgiving

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photo 2As we encroach on our day to give thanks, I can’t help but feel that the one holiday that asks so little from everyone gets the short end of the (drum)stick.  Thanksgiving is the middle child between two exuberant personalities.  It’s the five-minute placeholder between two lavish, sparkly neighbors.  They’re the envied ones with the lights, mystery, and a plethora of parties that lead up to the big day. Volumes of books mark the meaning and document the excitement behind two well-heeled holidays whose stories are told and re-told in countless fashion. Everyone gets caught up in the shivering excitement that begins a half-year before the actual day. Cue the Halloween costumes and Christmas party attire and everything else just blends into the carpet. Admittedly no one is rushing to get the ‘perfect Thanksgiving outfit’.

The little angels and I walked into CVS the other day and Christmas had thrown up in the store. It had been easing its way in for months.  There were more Santas, reindeer, ornaments, striped socks, dog and cat outfits, and mountains of chocolate than even in large department stores.  Aisle upon aisle was burgeoning with all things Christmas. Child-sized mechanical carolers held buckets of what else?  Stocking stuffers! Then, like the little kid in the back of the lunch line, quiet and unobtrusive amongst overbearing playmates, there was a mere handful of items dangling from metal hangers featuring a few wooden turkeys and caricatures of smiling pilgrims in varied shades of brown.  Ah, so easy to ignore among the deafening sounds of singing Santas, Elvises, and Nutcrackers. Not once did either of my children scream, “Mommy, please oh please can we get that really cool rocking pilgrim and hang it on the door?”photo

This past July in North Carolina, my girls and I were red-faced, dripping with sweat and drinking our ice cream in 100% heat and humidity.  We walked by a cotton warehouse-turned-retail oasis with the words “Air-conditioned” beaming through the hot haze. Cool air poured onto us and scents of cinnamon danced in the air. We stumbled in as if cement blocks were tied to our flip-flops. There before us amidst tourist traps filled with tacky t-shirts and flavored pecans was “Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe” complete with holiday music, a dozen or so lit trees and walls of ornaments and wreaths made out of driftwood and seashells. With sticky fingers and bright eyes my little angels were entranced, speechless.  Yep, here we were. Christmas in July.  No amount of coaxing could pull them away from the eye candy before them (and ice cream was no longer an option).  People were actually shopping because time was a-tickin’. The big day was only five months away. I still can’t get my head around seeing year round Christmas stores, even having them make frequent appearances in my southern upbringing. I refuse to buy a winter coat in the summer and certainly refuse to buy a bathing suit in December.  I am horrified by the push of the retail industry speeding up our lives and forcing us to think that we must get it now! Or else someone else will! God forbid.

I miss my Southern Thanksgiving with tables of rainbow colored jell-o salads, deep-fried turkeys, a mega variety of stuffing, pies galore, and real buttermilk biscuits (the sweetened iced tea I can do without). I miss the long tables atop my aunt’s deck that overlook the waterway filled with four generations of relatives. I miss watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the football games, even though I could care less who played. Thanksgiving to me was always more than a placeholder.  It was when everyone made it to the table.  You could always count on it.  Christmas is when families disburse.Thankful_thumb

Be thankful for your dysfunctional family, for wine, that your friends still like you, and that there are leftovers. Be thankful for this ‘bump in the road’ called Thanksgiving so that you can slow down before attacking shopping malls for needless items and overspending.  Be thankful for new beginnings and remember to give this shy holiday the attention it deserves.                               Happy Thanksgiving!

Tammy

Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance. — Benjamin Franklin