The girl cousins.
The (lone) boy cousin on my side. On Nate's side it's all boys! There is only one (lone) girl cousin.
Christmas Eve.
Christmas Morning.
Did your Mom used to similarly torture you? Mine did. Stairway photos were a must.
Our 10 year anniversary is in a few weeks and Nate surprised me with an early anniversary present for Christmas. Tricky bugger. We started a new tradition of going to a movie on Christmas eve this year, seeing the new Star Wars. We were mesmerized and all fell in love with BB8 and Rey.
Christmas as a Mom can bring a lot of stress. It feels like there are a million people to think about, parties to attend, school things to do. That said, when you see your kids truly joyful, enjoying the traditions that you have created for them, enjoying giving to others, and delighting in all of the actual events of the season, it is special. Christmas this year was one of the most fun that I remember. The kids are just at that sweet spot where they are easy and their wants are small. No drama yet, and it's pretty easy to be their Mom, in general.
It's good to be their Dad, too.
It's definitely great to be their Grandparents. The kids are lucky in that they get to see both sets of Grandparents on Christmas. My parents come over in the morning, and then we spend the day at Nate's brothers house where his parents are.
It's good to have a daughter. I can't stop watching this
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Did your family have another grandchild this year? I see an extra girl in the girl cousin pic?
ReplyDeleteDee yes, Pete had another beautiful baby girl. My family continues to add a baby each year, bringing us to 8 now 8 and under. My parents love it :)
ReplyDeleteYour longer post really struck me and I wanted to be able to sit down and really take the time to respond...which hasn't happened until now.
ReplyDeleteOur holiday travels to my hometown and the (ultimately unrealized) prospect of meeting up with a dear friend's mom made me flash back to when this friend's mom was called to step up in a crazy (MY crazy) situation...she was someone I felt I could trust and would know what to do. she was an adultier adult than some others, but at the same time incredibly comforting. Now, as a slightly adult-adult, I look back and wonder what that must have been like for her - to get a phone call to meet her daughter's friend and her aunt at -I can't remember if it was the ER or the intake at the impatient facility- and to have to call that girl's parents and tell them what had happened. And thinking of what it must have been like for my aunt to stumble upon my freakout. It's so weird to look back on that me from now. I know that I need to find a way to love that me, to feel compassion for her and not shut her out as "the past." I think to start, I will write letters of thanks, of apology, to my aunt and friend's mom.
Just last night I made a comment in passing (in response to reading Clementine wherein there is a funny aside about some kids being "the easy one" and some kids being "the hard one") about having been the hard one in my family and P asked, giggling, what I had done...I was flummoxed. I want to be honest with her, but this is nowhere near the time to fill her head with such things.
solidarity, sister.
Solidarity. Sometimes I write these things and then look back and think ~ Why on earth am I writing this mess all over the internet? I'm glad at least somebody could relate :) xoxoxo
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