But I'm having a case of the Grinchies.
Somewhere between mismatched lights and broken ornaments my heart apparently shrunk three sizes.
We usually do our Christmas decorating on Thanksgiving, or the day after, but we were in Georgia this year so it was put off. But by the time we got back from Georgia I was tired and out of energy and just didn't feel like it. Once we finally got the gumption to dig out the decorations, I tried to put myself in the Christmas spirit by putting on Christmas music and getting the boys to help me decorate. And boy did that backfire. In under a minute we had a broken ornament and screaming over who got to put what color ornament on the tree (let it be known that there are at least two of every color). Nothing puts you in the Christmas spirit better than screaming, "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!!" It turns out "decorating the tree as a family" means "put on The Grinch for the boys and do it by yourself".
And while I battled the tree with the boys, Jason battled the exterior lights. Last year we replaced our set of adorable snowflake lights that were in sad condition with new lights during the after-Christmas sales. Of course, at that time we didn't even have an inkling that we might be moving. Well, I bought enough lights to line our house in Georgia, but it turns out we're now one strand short. Perhaps it wouldn't be a big deal, except that apparently they do not make the same lights anymore, and I'm far too OCD to handle having different lights on the rooftop (even if the only difference is the color of the wiring). To save you from the complicated details of everything that went down, I will just say that 3 stores, multiple internet searches, and replacing individual lights on two strands and still coming up empty-handed also doesn't help put me in a festive mood.
Did I mention that James accidentally sat RIGHT on top of my Christmas-ornament wreath that I made two years ago (and remade last year)? I couldn't blame the boy because he literally just toppled over and sat on it, and I'm thankful it was in a bag so he didn't end up with shards in his rear, but sad day... I loved that wreath.
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| This was before it was completely finished. And before being smashed. |
And every time I do something to try to improve my mood it seems it backfires. We picked a "holiday angel" ornament off the tree at church to buy a gift for a child in need. We went to Target to pick out the gift and, even after coaching Drew about what this season is about, and that there are plenty of children who aren't as lucky as he is, etc., he still managed to whine through the entire store about wanting the Lego set for himself. Not a big deal, but it sure did make me feel grouchy.
We put up the Advent calendar. And the boys ripped one of the scripture scrolls and fought over where the pieces should go. Then I pulled out our huge box of Christmas books. And the boys fought over the "talking" book and started literally running in circles and shrieking.
Sigh...............
I began to wonder if this was all just a bad joke when, after getting the boys bathed, and dressed up in their (ironed!) Christmas outfits, we showed up at Santa's House for photos to find that I had my dates wrong and Santa wasn't there.
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| We did get one decent photo at home. No, I'm not gritting my teeth and holding their hands down... |
And then I was enjoying the fact that at least my Christmas shopping was mostly done, then Jason informed me that he just got an email (two weeks after ordering! Thank you for that, Lids.) that one of the gifts we carefully selected for a family member was out of stock.
I will say none of this has been alleviated by the fact that professional Mr. Scrooge (Jason) has been sort of reveling in my misery. Every time I vent about how frustrating this all is, he just sits there with his smirk saying, "come on over to the dark side."
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| Jason seems to have more Christmas spirit than the rest of us... |
Please know that in spite of what is written here, I do know the "reason for the season" and realize all of this is the unimportant fluff. But I felt like I needed a rant to help reset my attitude.
Today I will enjoy the fact that my Christmas shopping is 99% done. I will enjoy that I don't (and didn't) have to fight crowds at the store because internet! I will be thankful for the fact that I have the money to buy Christmas presents. I will celebrate that I have a wonderful family to share these "broken" memories with (that I'll laugh about later) and that we're able to spend this holiday together. And I will continue to remind myself that Christmas doesn't come from a store, that it, perhaps, means a little bit more.
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