What's more fun than Christmas with kids?
Nothing.

It was a wonderful Christmas at our house! The boy woke up at 6:00 ready to wake up his baby sister and see what Santa had left them.....not to mention the numerous presents from moms. The excitement as they saw their unwrapped Santa presents was priceless. Baby girl grabbed a baby from her swing/cradle/feeding station set up and kept saying "mine, mine." We assured her that Santa had left the babies and the entire center for her. The morning, really, most of the day, was a balance between unwrapping presents fast enough for the boy while going slow enough not to overwhelm the baby. We said the presents would last longer if we went slowly and played with each one a bit before moving on to the next. Grandma, grandpa, plus an aunt and uncle joined us for breakfast and more unwrapping, which took place a couple hours after the initial excitement of Santa having left presents and filling stockings. That was very nice and not the crazy frenzy of the larger family gatherings we usually have.

I must have been quite good this year, as Santa filled my stocking with lots of fun goodies, including 800 THREAD COUNT pillow cases (I am sort of fanatical about soft pillow cases), The Secret and High School Musical DVDs and lots of chocolate! My kids got me a beautiful necklace with picture of them engraved on it, and my wife treated me to Season 3 of The L Word, Season 5 of The Gilmore Girls and a Wacom tablet for doing graphic illustrations on the computer (or digital scrapbook pages reminds Wife, who plans on sharing this gift with me), plus other fun stuff. Not that Christmas is all about the presents, but we do have fun shopping for each other and finding something that is going to bring a special smile each other's face.


The day was filled with playing, visiting and eating lots of homemade treats. We rushed to open the last few presents before going to my sister's house for a big family dinner. Let me say that again - WE RUSHED - and really scrambled to be there on time. My nephew and his family did not rush and were over an hour late - because they were napping - because he'd stayed up drinking all night long. For some reason we waited for him. Ten adults, 3 teen or almost teens, and 4 small children waited for the same person that had delayed their morning celebration. We don't all have a formal sit-down and eat together Christmas dinner, so there was really no need to wait. Well, not my house, not my call. Still, we know our son is not at his best by late afternoon/evening, and especially on such an adrenaline-filled exciting day when he's been up for hours and hours. Delaying dinner and extending our time spent with a large crowd of people only sets him up to fail. So, although he did OK, he and his cousin managed to get reprimanded by various adults several times. The rules at this house are somewhat different than ours, and are different for big kids than little kids, so it is confusing and difficult for him, and therefore, for us, too. It's too bad that Tired Boy is the version of him much of my family sees....silly, almost out-of-control, too exhausted to listen, who comes off as spoiled. He can be so polite and interesting and most people think he is older than he really is. A new study just came out indicating that his lack of focus is a sign of happiness and creativity. (Something like that. I was busy playing with the new castle with the kids when Wife was reading me the story from the newspaper.) OK, we'll take a happy child over a troubled one with more focus any day. The day ended peacefuly back at home with the kids playing with us and their new toys, and drifting off to sleep much more quickly than normal.

For our last minute Christmas-miracle (related to gift-giving), that made our son's day, read my partner's blog here.

I just got done talking to a friend whose Christmas was filled with horrible child-custody battle issues. Though all is relatively OK now, and they are looking forward to a good week together, I thank God our family is not plagued by such self-centered drama. Our miscommunications and occassional hassles are so minor in comparison with a drug-addicted mother keeping her 7-year old daugher away from her father (who has full custody) over Christmas. Come on people, when are we going to get this child thing right? It is not about the adults and getting even with each other, it is about the children.

Well, hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday! In just a couple hours I am off work and will be back playing with TinkerToys and Weebles!