It seems like the older my kids get, the more hectic the holiday season gets, and the more mellow Christmas day becomes. I recall last year being that way, and this year followed the same pattern. We had all kinds of concerts and activities throughout the month, but today was a calm day, one in which we were able to sleep in just a bit, enjoy our presents, and make it to church in plenty of time. Having the opportunity to go to church on Christmas is always nice too, and one of the perks for me is being able to sing in celebration of the Savior’s birth. I love Christmas music and while we haven’t had an official ward choir in our ward since sometime before Covid hit, one wonderful sister in our ward was missing it and volunteered to pull together a choir just for Christmas. And I loved it. Daniel and Nathan also did a musical number and Daniel can now say that he was officially the first person ever to play saxophone in our ward’s sacrament meeting. And let me assure you that it was very reverent and sacrament meeting appropriate.
The opening of our presents has gotten mellower as well. The heady anticipation of the very young has become tempered as our kids have gotten older, which lessens the frenzy of tearing off wrapping paper and bows. That doesn’t mean there is no excitement, it just means the amount of sleep deprivation is considerably lower and everyone has a bit more patience with the process.
As usual, there was some Lego to unwrap this morning. I honestly don’t think my family knows how to do Christmas without Lego. Daniel got a cool blacksmith shop, Matthew got the Infinity Gauntlet and Malia got the Harry Potter inspired Hungarian horntail dragon. Neither Kevin or Nathan received any Lego and I think both of them were at a bit of loss as far as how to fill their time once all the presents were opened.
Books are pretty common gifts around here as well, and while we only had a few books given this year, several of those were personalized volumes. I finally finished Daniel’s mission book and gifted that to him, and Nathan authored a fantastic chronicle of Tiny Toothless’s adventures in Texas just for Malia. It was totally fun and made all of us laugh!
Nathan got a variety of Texas themed items including a Buckie’s t-shirt, a teeny tiny Texas waffle iron, and some Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Nathan says this particular seasoning pretty much replaces the salt in Texas. Apparently, they say, “Pass the Tony’s” the same way we ask for the salt around here.
In addition to her Lego, Malia was mighty pleased to receive her first ever pair of Converse high tops. The red ones were at the top of her list and we gave her a one-time only pass to wear her Converse to church. Her desire for trendy shoes is yet another indication that that she has stepped firmly into the tween world.
Other gifts included a variety of fun socks all around, a bag to organize and transport all Matthew’s trumpet mutes, a plastic model or three for Kevin, Daniel and Matthew, and a new car for me. The new car actually arrived several months ago, but it is sitting in the garage if I need to be reminded of what I got for Christmas. 😉
The gag gift of choice this year was supersized items. Malia got a 1 lb. Hershey bar, Nathan a gigantic slab of Snickers, Daniel got the oversized Toblerone, Kevin had the mega sized peanut butter cups, and I got a mighty big adjustable measuring scoop that dwarfs the normal sized one I use all the time. All things big were entertaining, but I think Matthew’s oversized wonder was the funniest. He got a ring pop that is half the size of his head. I laughed out loud when I saw it. He can wear the thing as a bracelet!
Christmas joys aside, the past week has been a kind of tough one. Nathan and I are both learning that there is a headache rebound when the Botox wears off. As such, we have both had an increase in headaches. But if nothing else, the upswing in headache severity for Nathan and in frequency and severity for me have shown us that the Botox is actually helping. I was fairly certain that it was helping me, but Nathan wasn’t sure. But with the increased intensity of the headache, he has realized that the Botox has helped level out the pain. So while it has been valuable information for both of us, it has made this week less than stellar. In addition to that, I started a new medication on Friday and woke up yesterday morning with my left hand and arm all swollen up. I spent the morning at the instacare, which was definitely not where I wanted to spend Christmas Eve. Nathan and I were both struggling with headaches last night as well, so we made a token appearance at my folks’ house for dinner and then Kev drove us home while Daniel stayed with Matthew and Malia for all the festivities. Again, it was not the way I wanted to spend Christmas Eve, but sometimes life gives you lemons and you have to have a good long sleep and some headache drugs before you can make lemonade.
Now that I’ve spent some time complaining, which is not what I had intended to do, let me say that we have been truly blessed as well. All of my children were home for Christmas. Earlier this year, we had not anticipated that would be the case, but Nathan’s shortened mission meant everyone was home for cookies and caroling (Although not a single person answered the door when we went caroling this year. It was weird. And really bad timing on our part apparently.) We spent some good quality time together and were able to find joy despite the inconveniences and unpleasant elements the past week has held. We have felt the love and support of our families and friends. And we have been able to think about our Savior and remember just how blessed we are to know him and to have his gospel in our lives.
There have been times over the past few weeks when I have struggled to feel the joy that Christmas usually holds. It’s not that I’m feeling humbuggy or anything, but it can be terribly hard to be cheerful in the middle of a migraine. But in those times, I have been constantly reminded that the Savior is with us on our dark days too. He is with us when we are sad, hurt, discouraged, disappointed. His light is available year-round and not just when we focus so much on lighting the world. So I think it’s ok that this week has been a bit of a rough one because I spend every day, every week, every season trying to bring a little more of the light of Christ into the world. So Merry Christmas. And may we all carry the joy of Christ with us all year round and not just for a few weeks each December.
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