Countdown till Christmas

 T-minus 6 days till Christmas, and the sound of reindeer on my roof.  Another month full of the holiday lights, bubbly champagne, delicious food, warmth of family and friends.  Let's not forget our faithful ELF who causes chaos and giggles throughout that time period too.

This weekend, I will begin wrapping gifts that deserve to be under the tree instead of throw in the guest room.  I'm still trying to figure out what we will be having for dinner and if the big one will be on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.  Thinking about all of this, I really would like to bring back some of my family traditions into our little family.  The past 2 Christmas' we've done R's traditions and a few of mine, but I don't think it would hurt to change up the dinner plans.

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I remember in my family we'd get together at my great grandmother's house for this elaborate, crowded dinner with so many people.  Family only, but still chaotic. The adults would be in the dining room while us kids were in the kitchen area.  Everyone would eat till they rolled out of their chairs, and then the cleanup would commence.  After, the kids would be the first piled up by the tree waiting on the adults as they purposely took their time to make it that way.  A volunteer would pass out the gifts, and everyone would proceed to make a huge mess with wrapping paper and boxes.  

The good memories are the ones I love and those were fun.  

My brother and I would be told to take a shower and get into bed.  Unfortunately, for my grandparents we would stay awake as long as we could singing Christmas songs from our rooms.  Eventually, we'd pass out singing 'I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!'  I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.  He and I would be the first out of bed and banging down doors because Santa came.  

Christmas Day we'd have breakfast, as the adults sip coffee till about noon.  The rest of the day we sat around talking with family, munching on leftovers while my brother and I played with our new gismos and gadgets.  

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Funny, how I haven't really thought about that part of my childhood in years.  When things were good, they were amazing, but that was then and this is now.  I miss the large family get togethers, but I don't miss the literal chaos that joined in. 

I think the moment I really saw the toxicity was in 2013.  My black sheep uncle was visiting and what caught my attention was his fading away into a corner of the kitchen with his pile of gifts. He literally sulked in the back, sipping on Jack Daniels watching from the shadows.  Not a single word, but when he left he just gathered his gifts without unwrapping them with the family and pouted on his way out,

Unfortunately, those a the moments I'm happy to have the family I have now.  R, our kids, our village and my parents.  No drama, no toxicity, just love and laughter.  

Here's to another Christmas, more gifts for the kids, less for the adults because honestly the only thing we want is to see the kids happy.  If I want something, I'll go buy it but I will say Christmas is much more fun when you have kids.  That's just my opinion though.