Merry Christmas

Phew! Our holiday celebrations are over. We moved everything up a day because Flyboy (my husband) gets to fly people around tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day. Actually, I kind of like sliding things around. It reminds to focus on the important things: my family.

We had three celebrations. As much as big gatherings can be fun, I much prefer smaller ones. I find more satisfaction and enjoyment when I can focus more completely on the people around me. And I'm not so good at that when there is a lot going on.

So yesterday we were joined by Flyboy's parents for pizza and presents. It was such a pleasure to have the time to talk with them and to watch our kids fall in love with their gifts. We (try to) limit the number of gifts our kids receive so that what they do get is thoroughly appreciated and really is what they want. After one gift each two of our three kids were content. After two each they were happy to play all day.

This morning we awoke to full stockings and presents for just the five of us. There were more gifts than could be deeply appreciated in the moment. Little Dudely had asked for kitchen timers: mechanical, sand and digital. After just those he probably woud have entertained himself for a week. But we had more. And they just kept getting better. It makes me wonder if we should spread out the gifts, maybe one every few days for a few weeks...

By the end of the morning present fest our kids had declared this "The Best Chritsmas Ever" and there was still more to come. We headed to my parents' house for our holiday dinner with them and my sister: potato-carrot soup, pierogies and eggnog, followed by cookies. Yum! and then more gifts were exchanged. And The Best Christmas Ever got even better.

As I write this at the end of the day, I'm tired! But grateful for all the love. And satisfied that we all showed the restraint necessary not to swamp our kids with stuff (throwing out all the catalogs and circulars as they came into the house helped there!), but still managed "The Absolutely Best Christams Ever."