And so another Christmas has come and gone, its approach marked by the inevitable pre-holiday chaos, culminating in a day of sharing, laughter, and much, much love. I’m sitting at my dining room table as I write this, where I can see the Christmas tree in all its sparkling glory—and keep an eye on the kitten, who delights in the grab-and-run tactic for procuring low-level ornaments. This usually results in a short chase, as she tends to dive into her play tunnel for cover, thinking she’s hidden from me…even as her tail protrudes conspicuously from one end. 😉 Despite my successful retrieval rate, I’m grateful that we had the foresight to put up only the unbreakable and the non-valuable ornaments this year!
I’m also grateful that we made the decision to scale way, way back on the gift-giving. I’m afraid I’ve always fallen squarely into the “excessive” camp when it came to my children, but this year was different. One of my daughters and her boyfriend have just bought a house, another is in university and flew home from Newfoundland for the holidays, the youngest hasn’t yet found a job, and my husband and I are feeling the pinch of my having stayed home for 23 years to raise children. By mutual agreement, gift-giving became small, simple, and—to my utter delight—entirely stress-free. It was grand. 🙂
So where did the pre-holiday chaos come in? That would have started on the 23rd, when the new-house daughter was set to fly out to her boyfriend’s family for the holidays…and her flight was cancelled. The earliest next available seat was on Christmas Day, not at all what the poor girl had planned for. She was devastated. To my credit, I tried not look upon this as a way to keep her at home for the holidays, lol, and we did what we had to do: I made a second trip to the airport to retrieve her, her boyfriend booked one of the few remaining bus tickets for her, we drove downtown to physically get the ticket (no chances were being taken at this point!), she spent a bonus overnight at our house, and I drove her to the bus station the next morning. Then I spent the entire day moving at warp speed in order to accomplish two full days of work in one while my husband and remaining daughter wisely sought cover…so yes, slight chaos may have reigned for a short while. 😉
On Christmas Day itself, I was first up in the house (of course!) and despite the frigid -30C temperature, took the dog out for a long walk while everyone else slept. Our morning was slow and relaxed, from brunch all through the gift exchange; my afternoon was spent pulling together the usual feast; friends joined us for dinner; and I’m sure the neighbours could hear the laughter from blocks away. It was a perfect day in almost every way…
But next year, new-house daughter and her boyfriend had better plan on Christmas here. 😉
Joyous holidays, everyone—whether you choose to spend them with family, friends, or in your own quiet company, I hope you find peace and magic in the season!
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