I didn't go to sleep until 2 AM this morning, because we ate Christmas Eve dinner late (Rachel and Brian worked until 6:30 at Best Buy) and then Susie wanted to watch Scrooged and nearly everyone wanted to watch with us, which is beyond rare in a family of grown and almost-grown kids, so we had to do that, and then I came upstairs at 11 and realized I had never prepped the baked apple French toast for Christmas breakfast. So I did
that, and then I neatened up the kitchen so we could hit the ground running (as it were) in the morning, and I had to start a load of laundry so our Christmas place mats would be clean for the big day and....well, if you've never seen a woman practically weeping with exhaustion past midnight on Christmas Eve,
you're probably just not paying attention.
 |
| Yes, we're using paper plates - sue me |
Since it was 1 AM already, I decided to clean the crap off the dining room table and set it for Christmas dinner. I know, it sounds crazy, but the boost this gave me when I came downstairs this morning was worth the lost sleep. Every time I feel overwhelmed, I gaze at my set table and pretend that I am an organized, competent person.
This morning we opened presents. Now, I like to think we don't go overboard in this family when it comes to Christmas gifting: we just do candy in the stockings (plus Moose Munch under the tree), and Larry and I give each kid (or "kid") 3 items. But when you have 8 people in a family, and everyone is giving everyone else a present, well...do the math, okay?
 |
| That's 8 x 7 plus 2 x 6, approximately |
If you hear that Amazon earnings went up this month, you can thank me.
[Apologies to my neighbor who owns the independent bookstore. Mostly not books, though...]
So, yeah, up until 2 AM, up again at 7, opened presents, cooked the French toast, threw the place mats in the dryer, bitched at the offspring to put the wrapping paper and recycling out back, ran the dishwasher (ALREADY), and made the kids take charge of the mashed potatoes. I'm taking a nap now, and NO ONE can stop me.
That's the theory, anyway...
Oh proof positive that a woman's work is never done. I hear you on the nap 'plan'. I thought briefly today that i might sneak a nap, but Mini was reduced to tears while doing her hair. In my bathroom. So i stepped in and helped her style it till she was satisfied and i was thrilled that it was not in a messy bun. Then there were a few more gifts to wrap before going to my folks' house. And potatoes to mash. Never. Ending.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas/ Happy holidays!
"...well, if you've never seen a woman practically weeping with exhaustion past midnight on Christmas Eve, you're probably just not paying attention." Truer words have never been spoken.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tree!
love that about a woman weeping lol.
ReplyDeleteWe weep with you. A thankless holiday. I hope you got some rest.
ReplyDelete100% on board with the weeping....and the look of our tree. We do not go overboard either, but it sure looks like it...for the same reasons. Six kids to buy for, plus they are all old enough to buy a little something for each other now too. Nothing fancy to or from any of us, but it still ends up being a mountain of presents to unwrap. The thing that is making my weeping with exhaustion a little better is that my big kids finally seem to be seeing all the behind the scenes magic that I do. That helps. A lot.
ReplyDeleteHaving gotten up at 6 a.m. yesterday and fallen into bed at 1:00 am this morning, I feel for you. Ours wasn't for a Christmas table, though--it was for stuff like a late flight home that got delayed and then coming home ready to collapse into bed hard but the carbon monoxide alarm was chirping. That was fun.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the set table (BRILLIANT), this was pretty much my story as well. I hope you got that nap!
ReplyDelete