Christmas Wrap-up

For me, most holidays start with apprehension- I worry about people being able to make it home, and if they'll make it home safely. In the case of Christmas, this underlying current usually starts about the time Thanksgiving ends and it lasts up until the point where everyone is safely under one roof- usually the day or the days right before Christmas.

If someone has to run out for some reason, a forgotten gift maybe, or to meet a friend, then I take an intermission from the calm and comfort and worry about them making it back safely.

I'm not really sure why this is. It seems it's gotten worse as I've gotten older. But then again, there are more people living further away- which I guess is an indirect consequence of age, though not age itself. It's probably a little of both.

With all of that said, the holiday was wonderful. I like nothing better than to have everyone home. The best times for me have always been the visiting and the listening and sometimes just the sharing of space.

I hate to always be going back to when the kids were small, but...

When the kids were small, a typical Saturday was spent running errands and spending time together. It would usually start with going over to Grandma and Grandpa's house early in the morning, then maybe to the post office. Later, we would go to the outlet store before heading home for lunch.

When they were real young, I might put them down for naps, after which we might go feed the ducks or do a little grocery shopping or go to the video store where they would each pick out a tape to watch. Usually, it was all three.

Back at home, I would get dinner ready while the kids negotiated with each other in the living room over who's tape they were going to watch first. As I made dinner, they would talk and laugh and play.  I would listen from the kitchen and watch as the golden, late afternoon sun would stream through the window, hitting a crystal which would cast a bright rainbow that stretched into the dining room.

After dinner was a time to relax and catch up and wind down before bed. Then we would head upstairs where the kids would take their showers and then pick out a bedtime story and they would negotiate once again over who's story would be read first.

It was great.

Except for the showers and the bedtime stories, that's what this Christmas was- making dinner while hearing laughter coming from the other room, sharing time in the car and at the grocery store, hearing about what was going on in their lives, catching up and sharing time together.

And now that Christmas is over, and everyone has gone in their different directions, all that's left to do is to put away the ornaments and the decorations and then begin my worrying about the new year ahead.