Whew, this was a long week, amirite? Fridays, though, I sure do love Fridays. The weekend is here and I can look forward to pancakes for breakfast, snuggling on the couch with the kids, getting all the laundry done, and reading stories to the boys during the part of the day that I’m actually awake (the best is when Tony reads to the kids in the evening: he falls asleep mid-sentence on every single page).
Bonus: Tony is done with his master’s coursework for the year, so he won’t be retreating to his desk to study all weekend long!
It has been a tough week, but it has also been nice. I’m enjoying the Christmas music, reading by the light of the Christmas tree, telling the kids “no, you can’t have another candy cane before dinner” for the bazillionth time, and fantasizing about a world in which I am not exhausted and overworked and have time for Christmas crafts and baking and well, dinner, I guess. Maybe next year Cheese the Elf will get to experience inspired displays of mischief instead of the frantic, 7 AM “Oh, crap! Did you move the *%@*$! elf last night?” I also enjoy threatening to call Santa with a naughty report whenever Charles refuses to get ready for school in the morning. Works every time. And maybe, in a way, it’s good for the kids to see me and Tony be less-than-stellar parents for awhile. I’ve been sick and Tony has been recovering from surgery and we haven’t been in the least energetic about things like getting on the floor and putting together puzzles or playing in the backyard or baking cookies. Shoot, the house is dirtier than I ever let it get and I haven’t cooked dinner in a long while. The kids have watched more movies and played more iPhone games in the last week than they have the entire year. But sometimes we get sick, and sometimes we get hurt, and my boys have had a good chance to learn how to be concerned for our well-being, how to take care of some little things by themselves (pajamas, jackets, shoes), and how to play with each other even more than usual.
It’s all about looking on the bright side, right? Every cloud has a silver lining, and all that nonsense. Now if I can just get my butt in gear to finish the Christmas shopping and the baking for the cookie exchange tomorrow, I’ll be set.
In a world where the only things we see are Pinterest-perfect holidays, I offer you this reassurance: the Cook household is in a holding pattern at “barely festive” and everyone is happy, my boys shower me with kisses and love every day, and the only one truly neglected is the dog, who really, really wants a walk for Christmas. Let’s start a new holiday campaign and call it “Merry Less-Stressful Christmas!” What do you think?
“Lately, my exercise consists of chewing on frozen blankets.”
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