Merry Christmas to All

Scenes from the day - I only took a few pictures - I forgot I had a camera, apparently...

Allegra, me (duh) and my mom

So Christmas was good, but it began really, really badly. APPARENTLY, my two little girls decided to switch stocking with each other - see the picture above - only they never told anyone. (There are no names on the stockings, and sometimes my kids swap, but I always know who is using which one and I hang them up accordingly, so that I can pack the correct ones) SO, when I laid their stockings out for them, and when Santa loaded them with the gifts - he loaded the wrong kids gifts into the stockings. And when the little girls got up and ran downstairs, the yells of joy that erupted when the stockings were discovered became shouts of outrage and screams of frustration. Pulling my totally sleep deprived body out of bed, I flew downstairs to find Riley on the floor screaming her head off, throwing toys around as everyone ignored her and opened their own gifts. I grabbed her as she tried to pull over the Christmas tree and then ran into the hall and slammed into the wall, and I wondered how in the HELL I was going to pull this off. Emma handed over the correct stocking and moved on, but Riley was stuck in the screaming and it took more than five minutes to get her to stop.

GOOOOOOD morning, indeed.

And that meltdown resolved, we finished the stockings and got ready for church - where I ended up standing in the foyer as my daughter decided that the only way she'd be happy was walking circles around me for much of the service. There was no way she'd sit, no way she'd be quiet - but she was happy as long as she walked. Any attempt to try to go back into the sanctuary led to disruption and we had tears and frustration all over again.

So, two meltdowns before 11.

But the rest of the day passed with much less aggravation and much fewer tears on the part of ALL of us. Gifts were given, gifts were enjoyed. One of the best parts of the entire day was seeing the faces of my younger kids when the older kids played along, and hearing my big kids make a fuss over the gifts given to them by the younger ones, and how happy the little ones were to give them - well, that was better (almost) than any present I opened.

But I did get a Kindle. And SEVEN gift certificates for massages. SEVEN.

And I did win the Editor's Pick for the Divine Caroline Love This Site! Award, so it was, overall, a great holiday, even though it started poorly.

Comments

[This Eclectic Life]

Better to forget you had a camera and enjoy the moments, eh?

[Annika]

Our day started out rough, too. And my guy doesn't have the difficulties processing stuff that Riley has! I wonder if Christmas is a little/lot overwhelming for lots of kids, but most of them just handle it better.

Now if you will excuse me, I will be sulking in the corner because I want your massages.

[ggroszek]

A few is better than none, loved the photos, I'm sure Santa appreciated the Miller after all the milk he drank that night. Happy it turned out good for all. G

[Karen]

Sounds like my Christmas only the one having a meltdown was my mother... BTW, sure Santa appreciated the beer:)

[Stephanie c.]

Congrats on your win! I have a question for you: how do you hang the stockings on the bannister? I always want to do that, but have never figured it out.
And, just let me say, you'd better have a loaded gun around with a daughter that gorgeous!

[mm]

Merry Christmas to you and yours. In years to come, that meltdown will be funny. Right now, not so much, but in years to come it will be the things that memories are made of. By 4:00 Christmas afternoon I was so tired I actually started crying. Things were going great but like a child I could not take it any longer and had to take a nap.

In regards to pictures, more than one of us has a camera so we all attempt to take them and amongst it all we manage to catch a few "fit to print."

All things considered we had a marvellous day and I hope you did too.

[Mama Cas]

I tend to "forget" about my camera during big events. I prefer to be in the moment and enjoy what's going on. My photos are mostly taken during an average day when the kids are doing average things.

[Sandra]

aside from the meltdowns it sounds like a memorable day.

i love the idea of hanging stockings on the stairwell. do you not have a mantle? either way it's a great idea.

i can't over how hold allegra looks. she is becoming a beautiful young lady.

oh and you will love your kindle. i'm jealous bc the new one has audio. sadly, my doesn't. enjoy! :-)

[Ally from Zwaggle]

I got a Kindle, too! I'm so excited!

Merry Christmas, Carmen, and here's hoping New Years starts a little better!

[Heather Bensel]

Merry Second Day After Christmas

And, I wanted to share that I have that same Mrs. Claus ornament!

[kyooty]

YAY!!! FTW! Your mom looks like you! love the bunny ears!