ITS LEGS: Christmas 2021: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

It's 8:44 a.m., Tuesday, December 28 2021. I sit in my bed, sipping Diet Coke from my brand new Stanley Cup (thanks, Shulamith and Seth), eating apple pie, cream puffs, and a gingerbread cookie, while watching an episode of 911. This is only a slight shift from my normal morning routine, which includes a walk first thing and no food until noon (intermittent fasting).

It's the day after Christmas, and every mom deserves a break the day after Christmas; am I right? So rather than restoring order to my post-Christmas disaster house, I'll happily continue my self-indulgence by telling you the story of Christmas 2021: the Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful:

The Good.

1. A finished basement, allowing us all enough room to sleep downstairs overnight on Christmas Eve. (Last year, we had to cram all of us into our bedroom upstairs, lined up wall to wall on air mattresses in sleeping bags.) This was a definite improvement.

2. Matching Christmas pajamas. Years ago when this tradition began, only Shulamith and I participated. We'd buy each other matching pajamas for Christmas Eve, and they weren't even Christmas themed. In recent years, the tradition has grown into a family affair, with everyone participating except Isaiah and Shulamith's husband, Matt. Isaiah hates matching Christmas pajamas. No, really. The words "creepy" and "cultish" may have been spoken, but this item still belongs on the "good" list, because Isaiah is outvoted! Only because he loves me, did he agree to put on a black shirt and stand in the back for the picture. Mathew doesn't enjoy much of anything about Christmas, so no surprise he would opt out of pajamas. That said, he was kind enough to set up the timer on his phone to take the photo.

3. Spending December 25th with Eli and Amanda. On the years we need to move our Christmas to a different day in order to accommodate everyone's schedule, I usually stay home on the 25th and try to convince myself that it's not really Christmas and I can be perfectly happy relaxing alone, reading, and watching shows. However, there is always a tinge of melancholy, just a tinge, even though I know our joyous celebration is still to come... just not today. But this year, I was blessed to spend the 25the with Eli and Amanda, as they celebrated their first Christmas with their new baby. It was the loveliest! I spent most of the day snuggling a "Jane-in-a-gown," so Eli and Amanda could open their gifts to each other, along with ones they received from Amanda's relatives. Babies in gowns are my absolute favorite. My five wore them pretty much every day of their lives until they no longer fit in them. Thank you, Eli and Amanda, for inviting me; this could for real be my Dec. 25th tradition forever.

4. Simple food. Years ago, after preparing a giant Christmas feast, Shulamith and I remarked to each other that "we are the only ones doing all the work, and we are exhausted, and it's not the way we want to spend Christmas." From that point on, we simplified. We eat yummy Chinese food from Fortune Cookie Christmas Eve. We have our trusted prep-the-day-before egg casserole for Christmas breakfast, then snack on copious amounts of cookies, candy, cream puffs, Hickory Farms treats (sent from my mom in Portland) throughout the day, followed by chicken pot pie and apple pie, both courtesy of Costco. This year we added some chocolate fondue at the very end, and all was perfection.

5. The blessings of a large family. In the early days, when I was crazy busy with five bickering children, debilitating anxiety, sleepless nights, so much to do and so little time for myself, I questioned my sanity. I still sometimes question my sanity, as we all do, but I am profoundly grateful we had our five incredible kids. It was worth any sacrifice we might have made to experience the love we felt yesterday. Only our oldest son and his daughter, who live in Maryland, were missing.

The Bad.

1. Waffles, trapped in his kennel all day. He actually loves his kennel, but he's usually only in it at night. I bought him a brand new bone to keep him happy and occupied and away from the Christmas chaos.

2. Ruined surprises. There are 12 of us, and Shulamith and I handle all the details of selecting, ordering, purchasing, wrapping, and organizing gifts. We make lists. We check off items as we wrap them. We do all the things. And still, I always make at least one mistake. Sometimes it involves putting the wrong code on someone's gift. "Wait! No! That's not for you; that's for ___________." Gratefully, that didn't happen this year. Instead, I messed up and gave Mathew the tool for his Ooni backyard pizza oven before I gave him the actual oven. Oooops! I told him this was intended to build the suspense. I'm sure he believed me.

The Beautiful.

1. This present. I know, I know, it's not about the presents. But you guys: just look at this glorious picture that will soon hang in the entryway of our home! It's called "Peace in Christ," and it's even more beautiful in person. Thank you Gerald, Shulamith, Eli, and Amanda, for this surprise. I am overwhelmed.

2. Eli, in animation. Our gift opening is a bit of a marathon. There are 12 of us, and we open presents one at a time, slowly, in order of age, youngest to oldest. It takes a minute. At one point, Shulamith was holding Jane, so Eli took over her picture-taking duty. He was taking tons of pics of Shulamith's kids, so I politely inquired, "Are you taking any pictures of MY kids, you know, for MY blog post?" So he took 14. They all look like this: