no holds barred christmas

We are in full on Christmas induced mania around here and it probably won’t stop until Saturday at least. We basically declare it Open Season on presents, fancy food, and parties around December 1 and commence with the celebrating all the way through to the New Year. Boxes arrive from the grandparents, or from amazon, and the get opened at once. Candy canes are purchased in bulk quantities. Crafts are made daily. Holiday movies and books are watched, read, and discussed. Let no Christmas themed activity go undone!

Our tree is hilarious, about two feet tall, this artificial branch that got nailed to a board as a toy for Sophie when she was three. It was only meant to be a toy for a half hour or so but it has become our tree for the last three years. The kids love it because they can carry it around. They decorate it, take the decorations off, put them back on, set up Christmas tableaus in various locations. There is nothing breakable about it, unlike the Christmas Tree of Death I used to be terrified of, all those thin-glassed balls and evil electrical cords ready to kill me if I looked at them wrong. I have this phobia about thin glass, I have no idea why. I asked the kids if they wanted a big tree this year and they said No. They wanted ‘our little tree.’ Maybe next year?

Here’s our tree in it’s current location on top of the piano.

To top off each day of cooking and crafting, we’ve been watching the Santa Clause 1, 2, and 3 movies. You know, those Tim Allen vehicles? We’ll watch the last part of #3 tonight. My pre-mommy self would have snootily rejected such fare as beneath me, but we’ve been having a blast watching them, including the parts that are not so great. Lots of discussion has ensued about, say, why Santa has to be fat, what it would be like to marry a Legendary Person for real, how stupid the elves are considering they are hundreds of years old, and why don’t they just knock over the toy soldiers (they have no knees or elbows, for heavens sake!) and defeat the evil toy santa replacement? And what is Jack Frost’s problem anyway? Maybe he just doesn’t like himself very much.

I love the part in #2 where Santa, in his Tim Allen form (no beard, no red suit, no belly) causes perfectly chosen, antique toys to arrive in the ‘secret santa’ at a school faculty party, enlivening the group as they play with the toys they had most wanted as a child, and never gotten. I love how excited everyone gets, how they all start playing…that’s a great scene. Christmas is all about playing!

Sophie and Luc know that there isn’t a Santa (I have thing about not lying to them), meaning, no dude who lives at the North Pole, while they simultaneously enjoy playing the Santa Game immensely. Using double-think, there is no loss of magic, as far as I can tell. And then yesterday the lady at the check-out asked Sophie if she was excited about Santa coming and Sophie leaned against me in a half hug and a look of happiness and said, “My Mommy is my Santa!”

I could have Ascended right there, my life complete.

On the other hand, both the kids are in a state near panic with excitement about their presents tomorrow morning—the few I have kept back from the present barrage of the last few weeks, that is. You can see them wrapped in red in under the tree. I hope they aren’t disappointed! It’s going to hard to live up to this level of anticipation.

Christmas Eve party this afternoon at one Aunt’s, Christmas Feast planned at another Aunt’s tomorrow. A grandparent toy orgy on Saturday. Collapse on Sunday?

I hope y’all have fun playing through your holidays. Happy Everything!