Lily and Luke are getting to an age where Christmas traditions are probably becoming more important...from this age on, they may actually remember what we do to celebrate the holiday. So why is it that this year we opted to buy Chips Ahoy rather than bake Santa cookies, we've decided to travel Christmas day and picnic at a rest stop, and my Christmas cards (not yet purchased but still on my "to do" list) will now say Happy New Year instead of Merry Christmas?
I really don't know why. But I do know that I'm okay with it. I'm okay with our holiday being a little nomadic, our gifts being few, our cookies being store bought, and Luke wearing Lily's hand-me-down Christmas pjs (don't worry, they're unisex). There have been years where those very same things would have brought me to a meltdown. Nothing about this year feels traditional but everything feels just fine. We will probably never have a Christmas that looks like this year. We'll never have one that looks like last year and we'll hopefully never have one that looks like 2 years ago when David lived away from us for the month of December and made it back in town for the big day only to be greeted by a vomiting wife. Let's hope that was a once in a lifetime holiday memory.
So maybe we're no Norman Rockwell painting, and I certainly haven't been as intentional as I'd like to be about creating special holiday moments...but come to think of it, we have our traditions just the same. Today we shopped for last minute gifts, we always shop on Christmas Eve. Tonight we'll read to the kids about the birth of Jesus Christ just before they go to bed, and new or not, they will be dressed in Christmas pjs. I'll coerce David into an early wake up, just like I have for the past 10 Christmas mornings (even before we had kids), and as Lily and Luke open gifts he'll fuss at me to just sit down and watch as I attempt to get up every 30 seconds to pick up the wrapping paper trash or wipe a nose so the pictures I take aren't snotty.
In years to come, I'd like to start my shopping in September and be done by November. I'd like to bake. I'd like to set a beautiful Christmas table, host the holiday festivities and spend little to no time traveling. One year, I'd also like to have a white Christmas, maybe in a mountain cabin. One year, I'd like to dress up for Christmas dinner (heels and pearls). One year, I'd like to have a big surprise under the tree for David that really knocks his socks off. And one year, I will...just not this year.
Merry Christmas everyone...no matter what your day looks like, I hope it's truly wonderful.