3 Wise Thoughts
For the past few days I have been viewing my bathroom from all different angles, yes I got the stomach virus. I would never wish that on anyone. Things are looking up and PurlGirl is on the mend.
A friend asked me a couple of questions today and I thought it they were good questions and that I would share them with you. Green words are hers, purple words are mine.
At what point do you throw up your hands and shout into the wind that you no longer have faith that you can complete EVERYTHING before Christmas while still baking several dozen cookies from scratch and attending two "must-attend" parties?
Baking from scratch is great but at this point forget it. Those cute little Pillsbury predecorated sugar cookie thingys with the santa and snowman pics are the way to go. When my kids were little I tried to do the Martha Stewart thing and it did not work for anyone, most especially me! Simplify, simplify, simplify. Instead of baking here is one thing I pull out of my hat every year that people love. I got it from my mom (hi mom if you are reading!) Take a bag of MMs, a box of raisins, and a jar of peanuts. Mix and enjoy. Ho, ho, ho! Which is more important: my attitude and sanity vs. my baked goods. What will my kids remember the most? That mom sure was a bitch at Christmas but boy we ate good!! That is not how I want my kids to remember me and I think I figured that out early on.
What superhuman power does it take to not run out and buy your child ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING because you are about to crumble under the pressure of other people telling you that you are a bad mother for not buying anything and everything?
The superhuman power to not buy, BUY, BUY!! is that you have mental discipline. This is what we can do, period. And, stay out of the stores as much as humanly possible during Christmas!! I don't know how old your child is but in all honesty they are not paying attention to how many gifts they got vs. how many Johnny down the street got. Once my kids stopped believing in Santa (which was last year) I explained to them about how they will get 3 gifts from us each year. The reason is because the 3 wise men each brought Jesus a gift and Christmas is about the birth of Christ and honoring Him. When we give gifts to people we are honoring them as the wise men honored Christ. Remember I have boys, so don't think this was all Martha Stewarty and that they went "oh, yeah mom! Give us some more spiritual truth!" It still takes reiterating for it to sink in.
I'll end today's post by adding this: Watch Christmas Vacation, that will make you feel good about your own family!!
PS--I love you too, friend!! Thanks for giving me material for the blog today.
Hopefully pictures tomorrow. I think someone has made off with the camera.
posted by Dawn at 3:00 PM
1 Comments:
great answers! i came to those same conclusions years ago when my kids were home and i was getting all stressed out about the good food, etc. for them to remember. i'm sure they were remembering my terrible attitude! i have 3 girls, 2 of whom are now mothers. they are teaching their kids that christmas is about WAY more than what you get, but is about what you give. that is what God did--giving His only Son--and we are to be giving to others more than being preoccupied with what we are going to get. that doesn't really come naturally to anyone. we have to teach/model it over and over again!
i don't even try to do all the fancy cookies. i just get the sugar cookies that come in tubes and put different colored sprinkles on them when i take them to various events. this is not the time of year to be "winning" attention for my great cookie recipe. i have a dried fruit/nut bread that i can make around t'giving that i use for special occasions. it is designed to keep for a long time. i am naturally competitive, but have had to curtail that side of my nature in order to make the season a time i can enjoy with my family in a more relaxed way with the focus on the One whose b'day we are celebrating instead of all the extra "busy-work" frills that wear me out and contribute to my losing that focus. hope you feel better soon and are able to enjoy christmas. martha
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