This morning, for example, I was leaving the post office, feeling pretty proud of myself. By 9:15, I had started a load of laundry, dropped Mia off at school, started my bread dough to rising, and shipped my two packages and picked up stamps. I was about to joke to Logan that we could now rest on our laurels (which wouldn't have made sense to him, anyway), when it hit me: I had messed up!
I've been making photo calendars for my side of the family for the past three years or so. I operate under the idea that these make nice gifts, so I hope the recipients are in agreement. I thought I was so smart including reminders of all the important stuff like birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays... and then I realized I forgot one very important event for one very important little person. I left off my nephew's birthday, and I am totally feeling like C-R-A-P at the moment.
While he is too young to realize the oversight, I am sure everyone else will notice, especially his parents, my brother and his wife. All I can really say is that I am so, so, so sorry! But that doesn't seem good enough. I know if it was one of my children who was forgotten, I would feel kind of let down. The funny thing is that I remember looking at the month of April while making the calendar, too, and wondering what was tickling the back of my brain that I was forgetting to add. If I had realized this before mailing them I could have at least penned it in and added a sticker or something. It wouldn't have been quite the same, but at least I wouldn't feel like the crummiest aunt on the planet right now. Someday, we will all laugh about this, right?
So now I have mommy guilt, and it's not even for one of my own children! This is a new development, indeed. I think it will be filed under "bad crazy."
Now let's talk about "good crazy." I know the Elf on the Shelf gets a lot of flack, so I don't bring him up unless someone specifically asks me if we have this tradition. The answer is yes, this is our third year, and I love our elf! I think it's a lot of fun, and trust me, I would not continue this tradition if I did NOT like doing it. (You know what they say, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy? Well, since our little friend Coconut E. Butterfly -- or Coco for short -- makes this mama happy, he gets to keep on keepin' on.)
I am laughing at myself, though, because three times recently I have wanted to do something that required fishing line, and for some reason, I have no clue where it is. (Okay, the reason is most likely that my craft stash is totally a disaster!) Anyway, you may be interested to know that is is possible to substitute dental floss for fishing line. Resourceful, right? I used the one that Logan had unspooled in the car after our latest trip to the dentist, which I had collected in a bag and saved for "whatever." So, last night I learned that it is pretty quick and simple to make a Superman cape for an elf. The tricky part is getting him to "fly." Now, using dental floss may be what I consider "good crazy," but let me tell you that it worked great! (I plan to share everything that Coco has been up to this year, so look for that post after Christmas. In the mean time, you can also read up on where he was found in 2011 and 2012, photos included.)
Last but not least, I give you "crazy crazy." This is one for the history books and I really wish I had seen it firsthand. Last Friday the preschoolers had a Christmas party during our MOPS meeting, which included decorating sugar cookies. Obviously, there were sprinkles all over the table. Logan is resourceful and a bit nutty (just like his mama), so he stepped back about 5 feet from the table, got a running start, and then slid across the table top with his mouth open and his tongue out, collecting sprinkles all the way! Hearing this story, I was simply too stunned to even be mortified by this behavior. I decided that he was hopped up on sugar, and had spent just enough time with other boys. Luckily, they were all laughing about it. Not that I want to encourage a repeat performance, but I really do wish I could have been there.
I think I have done a good job this year of taking my time and only doing what I can handle for the moment, but sometimes we all get a bit strung up (and being extra hopped up on sugar doesn't help any.) Mia made this beautiful drawing at church yesterday morning, which gave me hope that amid all the Christmas crazy we were teaching our children what Christmas is truly about...
... and then later that morning we caught her with her hands around her brother's neck, yelling that he was an idiot! This confirms my earlier statement.
Fact: The holidays make people crazy. Some of it is "good crazy" and some of it is "bad crazy" and the rest of it is just regular ol' "crazy crazy." Personally, I am hoping for a balance of crazy, with the good outweighing the bad (and just a bit of "crazy crazy" thrown in for good measure). I'm pretty sure that's one Christmas carol that isn't being played, but maybe it should be.
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