Here is what I've learned about Christmas as a parent. The beauty of Christmas with children is really in the waiting, it's really in the advent process. There are parties, the neighborhoods are lit up in colorful lights, there is singing, the house is decked out in gorgeous decorations, there is a magical elf greeting you each morning with a fun surprise, there are matching pajamas, loads of Christmas books, and there is that amazing anticipation of the joyous gifts to come. The whole Christmas season speeds by you at break neck pass as you try to capture every last ounce of the magic and joy. All the beauty and wonder then comes to a lovely peak on Christmas Eve.
After nine Christmases as a parent I have decided I like Christmas Eve much more than Christmas day. We always spend this day baking fresh cut out cookies for Santa, who I have been told repeatedly does not like stale cookies. We're all home, watching movies, singing Christmas carols, waiting to get ready for Christmas Eve mass. We make Christmas ornaments and decorate the cookies that were freshly baked earlier in the day. Everyone is a buzz with anticipation for Christmas morning to come. After a fun filled day the boys dawn their matching sweaters, miracles happen and somehow we're able to get a picture of all three boys sitting in front of the tree, magically smiling for the camera. We make the drive to evening mass at sunset, singing carols and admiring the lights. Somehow we make it through the long mass and before you know it we are singing Joy to the World as everyone fogs out of the church, anxious to get home and get ready for Santa.
Yes, Zane will probably be as tall as I am next Christmas. Yes, he is only eight.
It was too late in the evening for Thatcher to tolerate a cousin picture.
Once we are home the boys get into their matching pajamas, that by the magic of the Christmas season are all clean and easily found. They once again happily pose for a brother picture in front of the tree. Then the good byes to Gary begin. Everyone gets to hug him and tell him how much they will miss him when he is gone. All of Gary's friends are gathered and placed by the cookies so that they will be able to catch a ride on Santa's sleigh back to the North Pole that night.
Everyone is tucked into bed and visions of sugar plums I'm sure begin to dance in their heads. That's where the magic of the season usually stops at our house. On a good night it takes a solid hour for my children to fall asleep, so you can imagine the craziness of Christmas Eve. Just imagine the number of drinks and trips to the bathroom that are needed when you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa himself. So years ago Zach and gave up the idea of trying to go to sleep at a decent hour on Christmas. We have to wait for them to be fully asleep before any Santa nonsense can even begin to happen. So when Zane was very little we started the tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life together on Christmas Eve. I love this movie, it passes the time, we can put together whatever presents require assembly, it's great. However, we never can manage to get everything made, safely put out, and finish the movie before eleven thirty.
I know what you're thinking staying up to midnight is not the end of the world. True, unless you're children get up at 4:30am Christmas morning. Christmas is decidedly not magical on four hours of sleep. Zach and I have the same conversation every year before we get out of bed, "we only have so many Christmases when you children are little. We cannot be mad at them for getting up early today." So we try very hard to get in the right head space, try to muster every ounce of excitement we can, again on four hours of sleep, then head out for the presents. We put this off until six am, but none of us really went back to sleep.
Zane is very hard to buy for on a normal year and this year he didn't really want anything exciting which led to a lot of smaller, probably not exciting, gifts. The child wants for nothing so he is really fine.
There is nothing as wonderful as a toddler's reaction to every present. Thatcher did not want anything to do with opening presents, but he did love everything he got once it was opened for him.
The highlights of the day were Rowan getting his much anticipated skateboard from Santa, Zane got a big Harry Potter Lego, and Thatcher was pretty well oblivious to the world around him, but did get these adorable shark slippers.
The rest of the day went by in an exhausted fog. Trying to hold on for dear life until nap time came around. It felt like a day after working a night shift, where your mind doesn't quite work right, no matter how hard you try to wake yourself up. The children were just as tired, too tired to really be interested in, or play with any of there huge stacks of new toys they had just received. Which meant they ended up on the couch wanting to watch TV, infuriating their sleep deprived parents who had just spent lots of money on loads of presents. Truth be told, in hind sight they need less presents, there were just too many to choose from, along with being completely exhausted, made for a long frustrating day for everyone involved.
After naps and arguing over no one playing with their toys, we headed over to Abbey's for Christmas number two, Blakley family Christmas. The entire is PJ and it's very laid back, lovely affair. I got to cuddle sweet baby Worth, which was probably the highlight of my day.
Everything was going great, and I my bed was almost insight, when Mom got a phone call from Grandpa Dotter. He had fallen was in the ER with a broken hip. A broken hip is not fatal. However, a broken hip, for a ninety three year old, is the start of a long, terrible spiral from which they usually do not recover. Knowing this, combined with the fact that I was leaving town for a week two days later, I got in the car and headed North to go see Grandpa. The angels surrounded me and somehow I stayed awake. Grandpa was in good spirits, helped along I'm sure by the Morphine he was on, so we stayed until he was settled on the floor. He was to go to surgery in the morning.
Abbey and I stayed at the farm with mom and went up to be there for the surgery in the morning. The hospital in Enid truly feels like taking a step back in time. The surgery went well, Abbey and I stayed till after lunch, then headed back to the city in a classic Dad over doing it, down pour of rain. Thus ended our Oklahoma Christmas. We had a day to prepare then we headed off to Missouri for more Christmas celebrations.
