Holiday Hindsight

Now that the holiday season is over, Faith and I have been reflecting upon some things we enjoyed about this year and some things we would like to do better or differently next year.

I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year and I’m not exactly sure why. As I’ve reflected upon this, I can think of a few things that may have contributed to this for me:

For the first time since I can remember, we went out of town for the Thanksgiving weekend to help care for Jim’s mom. While that was a situation that helped out my brother-in-law and his family, it really caused a disconnect for me with my own children and their families.

Because we were out of town for the few days following Thanksgiving, we didn’t enjoy Bake Day. This is a time when my two daughters, my daughter-in-law, and I get into the kitchen and make some family favorites. Then we sent a bunch of the treats to our husband’s work place for them to share with their coworkers. Because life got pretty busy for all of us after we returned from out of town, we were never able to find any other time to allow Bake Day to happen.

However, I have been thinking of what I believe will be a better way to do Bake Day next year–and we will do it next year. I would like to spend the day after Thanksgiving deciding what we want to bake, go out to lunch, then go to the grocery store to purchase what we need; then proceed with the baking beginning on Saturday instead of Friday.

We didn’t do any fun crafts this year. I don’t know if it’s because money was tighter this year or our schedules filled up with other activities or what, but I missed them this year. I guess I also felt like we “fell behind” in our studies–whatever that means. Next year we must do better. It’s one of my favorite memories to do with my children.

The other thing I know to be true is we’re still living in a house I was so hoping would have sold by now. I remember thinking last Christmas that I didn’t want to have Christmas again in this house, but that’s exactly what happened. I didn’t get past my sour attitude like I should have. Now, I’m still hoping we’re moved by this next Christmas, but if we’re not, I’ve got to rise above it and change my attitude. Faith, I might need some help with this one.

In my post on polling my family of what they felt they really needed this year for it to feel like Christmas, I did do everything they requested, so I was successful at this. However, I knew in my heart that I was only doing the basics so I could say I accomplished what everybody wanted. Next year, I truly want to do better and will work harder to allow the Christmas spirit to infect me.

So, I guess that just about does it for me. Now it’s your turn, Faith.

Next year I want to do less work and make more memories!

I want to cook fewer items for Thanksgiving. I cooked WAY too many side dishes and wore myself totally out. I also hosted two Thanksgiving dinners at my house and that was pretty tiring too. For Christmas I made a much more simple meal and it was just as tasty and suited for family time with a large group of people.

And EVERY year I tell myself that I’m going to start sooner with shopping so I’m not so crazed. I have moved to more and more online shopping for Christmas and that has helped a lot, so much so that my poor mail lady began to think I was some crazy woman that hated to leave my house. At least that’s the feeling I got when she tentatively asked me, “Umm, so I guess you don’t like to go out and shop.”

Next year I want to do more crafts and holiday activities with my kids. We do Advent as a family in the evenings but so much of the memories that I have from growing up center around the fun things we did during Christmas time.

The first few years that my parents started homeschooling us, we took the entire month of December off from traditional schooling and read books, did holiday baking, and lots of crafts together. It was great! There is always more math to get done and another paper to write. I don’t have any memories that begin with, “Oh, remember that time in Algebra when we learned that cool equation?” But I have plenty of memories to choose from during our “Christmas school” month. Some of those memories include:

• The Cinnamon-Applesauce ornaments that we made that I still have on my tree every year.
• The wooden clothespin nativity figures we put together and attempted to make clothes for out of fabric and felt scraps. I’ll never forget my little brother gluing a sheep to his shepherd’s shoulders that made it impossible for the shepherd to stand.
• The Christmas play we performed at my grandmother’s house that included my dad dressing up as Santa Claus. His “Ho, Ho, Ho” is pretty convincing!
• I loved painting the countless plaster ornaments that you can buy at the craft stores around Christmas. I would paint those things all day long. I can’t wait to paint them with my kids! We painted so many that everyone in the family has some on their tree.
• I loved watching cheesy Christmas movies. (I still do and I wrote about a few of my favorite Not So Classic Christmas movies here.) Some of my favorites times were sitting together watching movies and laughing at how silly they were with my brothers. It always amazed us how those cheesy movies still managed to make our mom cry. (And now that I’m a mom, I cry at even the cheesiest movies too.)

So I guess most of the things I want to do differently center around the idea that I don’t want to feel so busy. I don’t want to look back at the rush around Christmas and regret the time I didn’t spend with my family and wish for a chance to make more memories.

Faith, after reading what you had to say, I am struck by the fact that I only have a few more years with your brother and sister at home. You’ve made me realize as well that the holiday season needs to be more fun and less work. After all, I’ve always said since we’ve been homeschooling that it’s all about relationships, not about academics.

Thank you for your insights.

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