Or at least this is what Ian declared as we "wrapped" up our Christmas presents yesterday morning. Of course all I was thinking was, thank God we found that damn Cars set on Amazon had it rushed here at the last minute, otherwise we would have been front runners...again...on the "Lamest Parents of 2010" list. Maybe you haven't heard of it but it's a feature they run every January in Parenting Magazine. We've been runner-ups every year since Ian was born. So unfortunate. But this year we saved ourselves. Whew.Truth be told, I don't know that was the BEST Christmas ever...I mean, I probably got fewer presents than normal which makes it just okay right there, but it was far from bad for sure. In fact, come to think of it, okay, it actually was pretty great. A few weeks ago when we were in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and we also had a few other things going on, I told Jeff one day that I had come to a new realization that the holiday season no longer represented a carefree, extra joyous time of year; rather it had come to represent a certain amount of added stress and pressure with the extra "to-do" list at hand. I'm not sure when this feeling snuck up on me...I guess kind of like that "Christmas Five" many of us experience after the holidays. Just not sure how those extra lbs. "sneak up" on you. But I digress. Of course this thought made me a bit sad but still I thought it all the way up to the nonstop traffic and running around I did last Thursday to appointments and last minute errands with everyone else in the Portland metro area. Believe me, there could have been a whole rendition of Jingle Bells with the horns I heard a honkin' just trying to get out of the strip mall parking lot. Ugh. But then this wonderful thing happened....
The clock struck 6pm and while the Burplings were home all snuggled at the dinner table with their dad, all the stress of the season melted away and a lovely long weekend began that reminded me why this season really is so special. It started with a great night out with my next door neighbors (at least the women part of the equation) and turned into a fun afternoon cookie decorating party with school friends on Christmas Eve afternoon, which then turned into a wonderful family gathering of neighbors on Christmas Eve with presents exchanged a lots of laughter (kids and adults alike). Seeing the excitement of the kids as they tracked Santa online throughout the night was so fun. And, of course Ian was as excited as he's ever been about Santa's visit that night and what he would leave him.
When we got home Friday night, Ian proudly left Santa a plate of milk and cookies on the kitchen counter (which Jeff had no problem consuming approximately 2.6 seconds after Ian went to bed) and we all jumped in his bed and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" together. The morning brought smiles to all our faces as Ian discovered his new Cars race track
exclaiming it was "exactly what he wanted!" Again...whew. Bullet dodged there. The lack of a Stars Wars Lego set was briefly noted but seemed to be quickly made up for by the spotting of none other than...wait for it....wait for it...The Pillow Pet!!! Yay!!!It's a Pillow! It's a Pet! It's a Pillow Pet!!Now if you're wondering where our littlest Burpo was at this time, well, she was still snoozing so she kinda missed out on the whole Santa-presents-under-the-tree experience, but we're guessing she was okay with that. Really, as long as her oatmeal and banana were waiting for her as soon
as she awoke (and believe me, they were), we had achieved Star Parent status in her world. After breakfast we did a round robin of gift opening. (Elena only made it partially through before it was her nap time...geez that kid sleeps a lot.) Unlike last year where Ian tended to tear through presents as quickly as possible without really knowing - or caring - who it was from, he totally got the concept of "reading" and appreciating who had given him each gift and that we were all taking joy in seeing everyone take turns and open their gifts. It was so fun to see him light up with each new gift he opened, but at the same time see him help and be excited for the gifts Elena received...as well as Jeff and myself.
The rest of the day we just spent hanging out...Jeff and I cooked the equivalent of a Thanksgiving dinner while Ian played with several of his new toys and Elena...well, she
played some, slept some, ate a lot. And, of course smiled, and said "Bye bye!" and "Hi!" a lot in-between. As Jeff says, she doesn't say much yet but what she does say, she sure says really well! She really puts a lot of smiles on the faces of all three of us, that's for sure.
After we all retired from dinner in the "formal" dining room and we put Elena to bed for the night, we let Ian stay up late again and we all snuggled on the couch to watch one of Ian's presents from us: Toy Story 3. It's a cute and clever movie for kids and adults alike. Then Ian was off to bed and Jeff and I were left to reflect on how great the day was...and remind ourselves that yes, maybe these days the holidays mean a lot of stress - but the second you see that big smile on your child's face when they come down and see that Santa left them they toy they dreamed of having...well, it's all worth it.
Until I write again.
