I love having my kids home during the Christmas break. I wish we all lived together all the time.
No, I really don't.
Yeah, I kinda do.
I love having a girl. It has been a joy to watch her grow up. She brought singing, piano playing, swimming and dancing into our lives. I got to "do" her hair. Because of her, I get to do all things girly like shop, decorate, cook, look at magazines, paint my nails, talk about make-up, do crafts, lay out without having to talk, eat salads, like everything pink, love shoes and jewelry, and read books.
I love having boys, too. So much. So much more than I ever thought I would, you know, before I actually had them. They have pushed me farther and harder and to more extremes than I ever thought possible...in love, in parenting, in life. They are funny and loving. They taught me all about sports. They are dirty. They can smell. They break things. They make a mess just walking thru a room. They are louder than I ever could've imagined, they eat all the time, and they are constantly in motion.
And another little thing about my boys: they out-number me.
When Logan is home from college and they are all 3 together, it's loud, unpredictable, messy and irreverent.
Not really irreverent, exactly. It's just that BOYS...and my desire to make a Hallmark Family Christmas around here...seem on a collision course for disaster.
Like, how "Mary" from my nativity scene lost her hand. It fell off...or was BROKEN off. No one will say. But I glued it back on and all was well in the Nativity scene...until I walked in to see the baby Jesus figurine wearing one of the boys' Ray-Bans. Then, one day, I noticed they had made two of the wise men give each other "high 5's," and now they have two of them posed in a confrontational manner. Just what everyone needs to see when they walk into my house...two wise men duking it out and the baby Jesus wearing shades.
I also have a little wooden nativity scene hanging on the wall in the hallway. The pieces are child-sized...probably so that it can be used to tell the Christmas story to children. I walked down the hall the other day to see the piece that is baby Jesus...UP ON TOP of the donkey...manger and all. Another day, one of the boys had put the baby Jesus figure up on top of the stable, where the star should be.
We have a set of carolers that belonged to my Mom...a man, a woman, a boy and a girl. My boys (and my girl) move the pieces around so that it looks like one piece is being "shunned" by the rest of the family. This year, they got a little more creative...choosing one of the carolers and putting it in various places. I also have another set of figurines that belonged to my Mom...4 little children and each one is a letter that spells out NOEL. As we speak, they are up on the shelves in our living room spelling out LEON. Yeah. Good times. They have made them spell out every combination imaginable to form a word, real or made-up. I found a sniper (army man) hidden in the garland and mesh going up our stairs. And, right now, in the middle of the "lake" I made to go with my Snow Village...someone has placed a bottle of chewable Flintstone vitamins.
They haven't bothered the Christmas tree too much this year. Usually, they will each find the ornaments that are theirs, and put them front and center...and move their siblings' ornaments down to the bottom. Or put them at the back of the tree where no one sees them.
I love the kids that God gave me. Truly they are the best of Jim and I, and the ones who have gone before us in our family...grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. They can also be the worst parts of us...the parts of you that you used to be, that you have worked hard to change; or those parts you have tried to hide, hoping they would never see.
Oh, they see.
I feel so blessed to have my family. They love each other and actually love being together. That, as a mom, is one of the things that makes me SO HAPPY.
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
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