This year I'm going to have something I haven't had in at least 12 years: an old-fashioned Christmas. I have spent a huge hunk of my life working as a retail manager, a position that offers flexibility in spades...February through October. But from November to January, all bets are off, and as a store manager, I most often put my employees holidays ahead of my own. The last to leave on Christmas eve, I would drive the three hours to my parent's house, have Christmas day to bounce between my parents and my in-laws, and then get up early on boxing day to drive the three hours back to work.
Just over a year ago, I made the big leap into a new industry, and never looked back. And now, with my maternity leave set to run until December 28, I have nothing but time to spend with my kids and my husband, and our respective families. It's literally a Christmas I haven't had since my freshman year of college, and I can't wait!
My three year old is just starting to understand all the fun of Christmas. This will be the first year he "gets" Santa Claus, the first year he's more interested in the gifts, not just the box it came in. Last year, we had to stop opening gifts halfway through so he could take a nap (truth be told, this is more because my mom is a mad shopper and went WAY overboard than anything else), but this year something tells me there will be no stopping him! Christmas carols, cookies, counting down the days with an advent calendar, I am almost bursting at the thought of all the fun we'll have, uninterrupted by the stress that work, and the world, can bring.
Our little girl is far too young to have the same experience. For her, the highlights will be all the people fighting to coo over her, and make silly faces, as well as the colors and sounds of the holidays. Someday I hope that she and her brother have as much fun being partners in crime as my brother and I did. As antagonistic and evil as we could be to each other every other day of the year, Christmas brought us together. Tapping to each other through the wall, sneaking out to the tree in the middle of the night to inspect the packages bearing our names, shaking every box to determine what was inside. We had so much fun!
Our family is lucky enough to have 2 Christmas celebrations, one the weekend before with my husband's family, and then again on Christmas day with my family. I think both will be bittersweet, having recently lost my husband's grandfather, and with my brother home from California for only a few days. I count myself lucky to have the time to spend with both our families. I think this Christmas will really be special, and if I can just remember to get out the damn camera, I can have a little something to remember it by.
Just over a year ago, I made the big leap into a new industry, and never looked back. And now, with my maternity leave set to run until December 28, I have nothing but time to spend with my kids and my husband, and our respective families. It's literally a Christmas I haven't had since my freshman year of college, and I can't wait!
My three year old is just starting to understand all the fun of Christmas. This will be the first year he "gets" Santa Claus, the first year he's more interested in the gifts, not just the box it came in. Last year, we had to stop opening gifts halfway through so he could take a nap (truth be told, this is more because my mom is a mad shopper and went WAY overboard than anything else), but this year something tells me there will be no stopping him! Christmas carols, cookies, counting down the days with an advent calendar, I am almost bursting at the thought of all the fun we'll have, uninterrupted by the stress that work, and the world, can bring.
Our little girl is far too young to have the same experience. For her, the highlights will be all the people fighting to coo over her, and make silly faces, as well as the colors and sounds of the holidays. Someday I hope that she and her brother have as much fun being partners in crime as my brother and I did. As antagonistic and evil as we could be to each other every other day of the year, Christmas brought us together. Tapping to each other through the wall, sneaking out to the tree in the middle of the night to inspect the packages bearing our names, shaking every box to determine what was inside. We had so much fun!
Our family is lucky enough to have 2 Christmas celebrations, one the weekend before with my husband's family, and then again on Christmas day with my family. I think both will be bittersweet, having recently lost my husband's grandfather, and with my brother home from California for only a few days. I count myself lucky to have the time to spend with both our families. I think this Christmas will really be special, and if I can just remember to get out the damn camera, I can have a little something to remember it by.
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