December Expectations

Thanksgiving- what a fun, happy, tiring, sweet, delicious whirlwind! We had a whole week of fun. On Monday, we had 2 of my sisters-in-law and some cute little nephews and nieces come to visit us. On Tuesday, I hosted a little get together for my side of the family (those who were in town, at least). Then, of course, we were in Delaware for the weekend. It was really fun to see everyone; and special thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in-law for putting up with us for 3 days :) I want to post some pictures and memories, soon.

So, December.

I love advent season. Because last year we were living with my parents and all our Christmas things were packed away, I had very high expectations about how this year was going to go. Our first Christmas in our first house. Plus, Graham is getting old enough to really enjoy the season. We want to make this month special.

Then I read this article posted by my sister-in-law and changed my mind.

The article is about how it's really smart to do less when you have young children. Because really, just managing the normal chaos is enough work before you add on any more.

This was confirmed yesterday when all I did was pull out ONE THING- the advent wreath- from storage and the boys immediately mauled it and pulled the berries off.

There are 2 Christmas tree farms within a few miles of our neighborhood and ever since we moved in I've said, 'We are going to have that experience. The one where you go into the woods and pick a tree and chop it down and make a whole special, sweet day of it! And then you go home and have the music on and make hot cocoa and decorate it together and everyone will be so happy!'

Not doing this. Because, deep down, I know it's too much. We'll go to the woods and one toddler will run one way and the other will run the other way and it'll take Behn 45 minutes to cut down and drag the tree to the car and then it will be naptime and there will be tears and cocoa will be spilt and I'll yell too much. Three years from now, maybe we can have this memory and it will work out just right. But for now, I'm going to be realistic and buy a tree at Food Lion and maybe just put Patrick to bed and Behn and I can spend some special time with Graham decorating it.

This year, I'm not going to have unrealistic expectations about Christmas. I'm not going overboard. If ornaments get rearranged, I'm going to let it go (or put them away until next year). Instead, I'm going to focus on reading my new advent devotional (The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp) and try to keep it all simple. Make cookies. Take time by myself to craft something pretty. Smile more and yell less. Ponder the beautiful words to so many Christmas hymns that I love. Do something kind for someone.