Very Merry

Very Merry

Each Christmas with no baby is harder and harder.  I was really struggling with this, between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.  I decided to just grab the holiday by the front of its shirt and give it a good hard shake.  “Listen, Christmas,” I said.  “Get it together.  I want caroling and cookies.  I want gift-giving without angst.  I want tradition, and I want to mean something to me.  I want good tidings of great joy.”

In my fantasy world, once I have a kid, I’ll have these perfect Christmas – some magical combination of all the things I loved about Christmas when I was a kid, and some more ancient Yuletide tradition that was never actually part of my life but which lurked in the pages of the books I loved.  Christmas pageants with medieval angels and preschool sheep.  Christmas cookies and caroling around the neighborhood.  A perfect tree and a yard full of lights.  Fluffy snowflakes and warm fireplaces.  I know I live in North Carolina.  I saw you raise your eyebrow, there.  Gingerbread houses and midnight candlight services.   This year’s now-in-theaters Christmas movie and the old, old Christmas story.  Reindeer Pez and steamed figgy pudding.  Waking up early to peek into stockings and sleeping in late.  BOTH.  AT THE SAME TIME.

I gave myself a good hard shake as well.  “Listen, self,” I said.  “Once you have a baby in your arms, Christmas is going to be a lot like every other day:  bottle, diaper, diaper, bottle, diaper.  If you want caroling and pageants and cookies and crafts and candlelight services and quiet family time and snowmen and gifts with no angst, now is the time to make it happen.”

So I did.  Sometime later I will post pictures of jigsaw puzzles and D&D with my nephew, audio clips of carols with my niece, and notes from my first attempt at Figgy Pudding.

Merry Christmas.

puzzle

tower

D&D

figgy 1

gingerbread5

Liz&Charles3

gingerbread5 gingerbread4 gingerbread1 figgy2