Merry Post Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas day. Well, as wonderful you can get with a passionate 5 year old, a three year old who feels it's her duty in life to change 5x a day and refuse to wear anything mommy picks out and a 20 month old active little boy. Surprisingly, the present part went very well. Every one enjoyed opening their prezzies, mom (me) took lots of wonderful photos and for a time... all was serene and right with the world.


Maybe my expectations were too high... after all why should our behaviour be any better just because it IS Christmas day. Part of the problem, I admit, was my husband and myself. We hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. He for colon issues, me because I was paranoid the kiddies were going to get up in the middle of the night and rip open all the prezzies. It was almost like I was too excited and stressed to sleep. So neither of us slept well. It didn't make us any more patient with the kids. Usually, when it's a special day involved, I really, really try and suck it up and catch myself before I snap at the kids. Let's make it as pleasant as possible kind of thing. Unfortunately, Hubby was having a hard time sucking it up and finding that "inner peace". A fact which drove ME crazy. Stupid huh? So by 4 p.m. I was crying in the bedroom ready to send back all the presents and undecorate the tree.


How did it get so bad? Well it was a slow progression all afternoon. When E gets tired, she gets difficult to deal with, or to be specific whiny and cries and does the little thing I like to call the whine shimmy. You know... screws up her face in whine mode, shrugs her arms up and down and basically flails about while she's having a hissy to be repeated every single time she doesn't get her way or.... heaven forbid, mommy didn't hear her the first time. We ended up sending her to her room with a stern talking to. I think what finally broke me was the fact that I had just sat down and given her the talk, you know about our behaviour and trying to control our temper etc and being grateful for what you have etc... when I was leaving the room, she got up and proceeded to whine all over again. I was so mad I felt like hucking things and of course, poor hubby got in my way and he got an earful of his wrongs as well. SIGH... so I went to my room and cried and E fell asleep on her bed. I had to wake her up to go for dinner. She must have needed it because the rest of the evening, she was like a different child. We all breathed a sigh of relief.


Do you have one of those? One of those children that seem to set the whole house in a whirlwind? She's the one that's always barking, singing, jumping, chasing, growling, spinning, screaming and all around going crazy. She riles up the two little ones and can't seem to let them alone. Why do we even buy toys? No one plays with them, they just torture each other. When E's not home we all seem to breathe easier and the day just goes smoother. Isn't that awful? It makes me sad. Because if we have a hard time with her so do other people. Yet she's wonderfully creative, loves to dress up, sing and put on plays. She has an amazing imagination and loves to colour and create works of art. She has a kind heart and is very empathetic when you can get her to stop and think about what she's doing or when she sees someone else is hurting.


I guess life just has these ups and downs no matter what day it is. I just can't seem to learn how to take it in stride and not let it bother me. If I could do that, I think we'd be so much happier. correction... I'd be so much happier. Cause, after all, it was all MY fault according to hubby.


I was torn writing this post today. Do I gloss over all the negatives and write just the happy stuff or do I lay it all out like one big vomited mess. Lately my saying has been, if you're not happy, Fake it. Why ruin things for everyone else. That's kind of sad too. Thanks Dexter. (t.v. series I just started watching)


It's kind of like our camping trip, there were so many negatives and yet all the positives made up for it when you actually stopped to count the positives. Kind of like counting your blessings.


So what was wonderful about Christmas: we were woken up by E coming into our room telling us Santa had come. She would pop back in with different reports of what she's observed under the tree, without getting into anything. We heard J coming out and yelling Merry Christmas E, and running into our room Santa Came, Santa Came, Merry Christmas Mommy and O calling out in his crib in babytalk.. hey come get me.. I wanna see too.


We had a lovely present opening time. The girls loved their dolls we got them and had a fun time feeding them. O loved his cars and his car set. He got the best boy toy ever from his uncle and aunt and he actually is playing with a toy. WOW. He actually has a toy he likes. We had a lovely visit with my parents and a delicious Christmas dinner. The kids did not fall asleep on the way home and were very easy to put to bed. K and I were able to sit and watch a movie before bed and relax.


So what that it was all interspersed with grumpiness on our parts. It makes me recall certain Christmases of my childhood where I had been sent to my room and threatened by my mother that she was taking all my presents back. I even recall being so stubborn that I packed them up for her and setting them on my stool. The look on her face when she came in to talk to me sure made me feel bad, although I realize now that that look of hers was probably her own remorse for saying what she did. In the end I kept my presents, we kissed and made up... but it is still a Christmas in my memories. I don't remember what I got, but I must have really ticked my mother off. So you know what they say.... payback is a b#@!*.

So while I'm hoping that everyone had a great Christmas, I am also sorta hoping that people with kids can relate to what I'm saying. It surely can't be just us. Can it?

Zeemaid

In the Mommy Trenches