The Perfect Christmas
I don’t know about you but every year I have big hopes of creating the perfect Christmas for my friends and family. Of course, this perfect Christmas starts with the most perfect family photo shoot for our Christmas cards that I always envision sending out in the beginning of December. We are all perfectly dressed in outfits that I planned in advance and we are all happy and cooperative. In my fantasy, as soon as December hits my roof top is lined with clear Christmas lights and the trees in the front yard are blinking brightly for all to see. Since the holidays mean having lots of goodies around for us to enjoy and to share with our neighbors I will have a day or two dedicated to making Christmas treats that we can freeze and pull out as needed. I will have finished my shopping early with the most perfect gifts for everyone, wrapped and hidden or mailed off for our out of town family and friends. Decorations are all over the house in the most perfect spots. As a family, we decorate the tree one night after dinner while Christmas music plays in the background. This year was full of anticipation because we were hosting 14 out of town family members. I couldn’t be more excited about having my favorite people all in my home! I wanted to have every meal planned out with a
shopping list and a to do list. Every room would be equipped with clean bedding and towels and all of the necessities would be provided. No corner of my house would have dust or clutter of any kind. You can call me super host! It was going to be absolutely perfect.
Now, I know that there are people that envision this kind of Christmas and ACTUALLY
accomplish it. I personally know people that pull this kind of holiday off. Granted, it’s like two people and Martha Stewart but those are the people I think about every year and they remind me that it’s possible! It’s because of them that I have hope every year. Every year I believe that I will do better than last year. It’s because of them that at the end of every holiday season I say to myself “next year I’ll do better”.
As I’m sure you have probably already guessed this is not how my Christmas season
went. I did accomplish a photo shoot but it was pretty much last minute and I did not have outfits figured out until that morning. Amidst fighting and not wanting to smile we did end up with a good family picture that I turned into Christmas cards but those cards are still sitting on my counter waiting to be addressed and it’s January 1st . I'll probably end up doing Valentines day cards! My house does not have lights on it and my trees are also bare. I did however buy some lights to light my walkway. They are pretty pathetic in their light output but dangit they are there!! My house did get decorated and my tree is pretty perfect. I may have had to force everyone to decorate it and have to wait until all six of us were miraculously home at the same time but we did do it all together and Christmas music was playing. No, my shopping was not done early on and I still have gifts to mail. Valentines day gifts, ha! I do feel like everyone was happy with their gifts even though a few returns were necessary. Christmas pajamas were purchased two days before Christmas and somehow the size 4/5 that I accidentally bought my 8-year- old fit him. My house was not spotless when everyone arrived but I did the best I could. The beds did all have clean sheets and towels were provided for everyone although we ran out of toilet paper a couple of times. I did not have every meal planned out but I did try to make sure the fridge was stocked and I will say, we ate like kings. I got super sick with an upper respiratory sickness the week before everyone came and my husband got it the week everyone was here. Mind you, this was not a simple cold. This was the plague! My husband is still trying to beat it. We rarely get sick but we got hit hard. Christmas cookies weren’t made and decorated until Christmas Eve but we did have them and they were amazing! I took hardly any pictures. I had the most amazing people in my home for 7 days and I didn’t take pictures to document it! I regret that but at the same time I was too busy enjoying the moment to remember to take pictures.
After saying all of that, I can honestly tell you that I had the most perfect Christmas. Not
only was I surrounded with my four boys and my husband, the five people I love most on this planet but I had 14 of my family members in my home that happen to also be some of my favorite people. Not everything went as planned but as I have learned over and over on this roller coaster called life, it doesn’t really matter what our plan is. Life is going to happen, it takes it turns and dips regardless of what we have planned. My plan did not happen but we laughed, we played, we ate, we drank, we laughed some more. We celebrated each other, we celebrated love and life and is that not the goal of Christmas after all? We all pitched in and worked together to create the most perfect holiday. Memories were made and will never be forgotten. I will never forget the perfect Christmas of 2017 and I am a bit sad that it is over. I hope you can all say the same about your holiday season and I wish you a spectacular 2018.
One of my favorite memories of this Christmas was a trip to the goodwill! We decided
one night that we were all going to pick outfits for each other that we had to wear to dinner that night. We each drew a name and were given $15 to spend on an outfit for that person. The more ridiculous it was the better! Once everyone was outfitted we all went to dinner together at a busy local restaurant and had the best time. There were stares and comments and laughter but most people saw the humor in it. We most definitely created a memory that we will remember for years to come.