We spent Christmas Day at home. Very little engagement of technology and we did not even call anyone. We certainly needed a day like that given that we are rarely, if ever, all in the same room for any extended period of time.
We exchanged gifts and I absolutely loved the one my 12-year-old made for us. She started with a blank canvas and drew a sweet Christmas scene. She worked on it for a few days and it turned out great! I had no idea what she was working on as she had banned us from her room, but I knew it would probably be something pretty fantastic as she is always one to plan and execute good projects.
I’m not sure what happened [maybe my traditional cinnamon rolls were laced with sleeping pills?], but in the afternoon I went upstairs to plug in my phone, sat down on the bed, and woke up hours later when my youngest came to check on me. I often wonder if it’s possible to have mono and only have it affecting you sometimes. I never had the two weeks of being in bed like my oldest, but there are definitely days where I feel like I could not possibly move–what’s up with that?!
While I was snoozing, the crockpot was doing the work of making a magnificent piece of roast for our dinner. My husband took the reins and made the vegetable sides–including some roasted potatoes that featured the Whole Foods herb butter that my oldest says we must never be without.
After dinner, we decided that we would make use of the six-foot table in the room. Instead of using it as gift wrap central, we used it as our coloring book spot. Our lighting in the living room is horrendous, so our youngest brought down a floor lamp from her bedroom. Smart thinking!
Even the husband tried his hand at coloring — it’s probably been awhile! Luckily, we had amassed four adult coloring books in the house as well as a nice set of markers and a set of fancy colored pencils. We made some pretty impressive pieces of art and only had to take an extended break when Lily used the opportunity of her family being otherwise occupied to pee all over the floor. She had been behaving so nicely that no one wanted to kennel her while we colored. I guess she didn’t want to interrupt us to take her out, so she just decided to turn the living room into her backyard. Sigh.
As the second to last Christmas before my oldest moves into a new phase of kid-dom [namely, college-age], I am trying not to stress about time flying so quickly. It was a good Christmas that I know the girls will remember.
