Christmas Eve Chaos

I'm not feeling particularly poetic at the moment, having succumbed to hectic last-minute preparations.  I've managed a bit better this year than most, as the wrapping is done (aside from one gift that the eldest needs to help wrap), my shopping is finished, I picked the last of the packages up from the post office this morning, stocking gifts are wrapped (and sorted ... An important task that didn't happen last year, but which is story into itself), and I've even set aside all of the gifts that need to go to the inlaws’ house tomorrow evening.

I feel a bit guilty, taking a moment to write when my kitchen looks like a chef-related bomb went off, when there’s a mountain of laundry to be done, when the kitchen and living room floors need to be washed, when the sheets on all the beds need to be changed, and when the main floor bathroom needs to be cleaned.  But I need a minute to take a deep breath before I head back into the fray, and I need also to remember what’s most important about this time of year.  Twenty years from now, I doubt whether the kids will remember how clean the house is.  What they will remember, however, is the time we spent together as a family, baking cookies, playing board games (Mousetrap is super-popular at the moment), shopping for families in need in our community, taking meals to Mrs. Claus (who organizes our local Christmas charity, and often forgets to eat this time of year), and all the other myriad things we do together, as a family.

So I'm going to ignore what I can of the clutter and mess that comes from working and having small children, and will take the time to enjoy the holidays with my family, before they’re grown up and gone.  I look forward to the joy and wonder I know I'll see on their faces tomorrow morning, to the love and happiness they bring to our lives.

Now I'm off to mix up a batch of buns for tomorrow (the last of my “must-do tasks”), then once the boys are up from their naps, we’ll make a batch of ginger snaps and the gingerbread cake for tonight’s dessert, during which I'm sure I’ll be serenaded with off-key, oddly-worded Christmas carols (the latest being “deck the halls with macaroni” ... Who knew?).