Christmas '10

I’ll be real and admit we’ve had some atrocious Christmases, the kind that are written about in newspaper columns or turned into a prime-time comedy episode. I think most people have, if they are honestly reflective.

I spent one Christmas in an ER when Butterfly was four and very sick with pneumonia. I ate a lonely Christmas dinner of a Snickers bar when she was fast asleep in the hospital room she’d been admitted to that evening. We’ve spent the holiday with relatives in which too many people were packed for a week in a small house with one bathroom. Tensions ran high, and there were some snarly moments I’d rather not remember. We’ve had awkward Christmases with hurt feelings and egg-shell walking. Last year, we lost my father-in-law the week before Christmas. We flew out to NY for the funeral in the midst of the East Coast Blizzard of ‘09, arriving back home two days before Christmas Eve. We floated through the holiday season doing the minimum and numbing our emotions. I will forever be grateful to the friends that were there for us through all of that.

This Christmas was amazing. We spent a laid-back Christmas Eve as a family, playing Apples To Apples, dining out, enjoying a Devotional together around the Advent wreath, and then watching A Christmas Story in front of the fire. Little Squirt kept a vigil by the computer, tracking Santa’s journey on NORAD. Children of the Millenium are a bit more techy than children of the 70s. I used to scan the night sky for a red light, which, in retrospect, had to be an airplane. I’d scream, “I see Rudolph!” which would be my parents excuse to bounce me into bed for the night.

The big surprise gift of the Christmas Day was Little Squirt’s Bearded Dragon, who was quickly whooshed from Butterfly’s bedroom to the family room early on Christmas morning. Actually, we were all suprised by Little Squirt’s non-reaction. We thought he’d be over-the-moon joyous, as he’d talked of nothing else for the last month. But he said he knew his BFF Santa would come through for him, and he wasn’t surprised at getting the Beardie. Later, after we’d gotten Rex the Beardie situated in Little Squirt’s bedroom, my youngest came down the stairs with big, sad eyes. “My dragon doesn’t like me. He always wears a frown when he looks at me,” my tender-hearted child said.

We spent Christmas afternoon at my parents' house with family. It was warm and fun and relaxing. We enjoyed a dinner of lasagna, beef stew and cupcakes. I had a sing-along at the piano with my two-year-old niece, and we watched a wrestling match between Little Squirt and my four-year-old nephew. Good times.

Now it’s over for the year. All the weeks of shopping, planning, baking and wrapping, and it’s over in one fell-swoop of a 24 hour period.