Comrades Amidst the Chaos

Anyone else in a post-holiday funk, or is it just me? The presents have all been opened, the new toys are scattered throughout the house, the relatives have gone home, hubs is back at work, the cupboards are bare, and the laundry’s piled up again. Oh, and school’s still out. Back to real life.

The thing is, we actually had a very nice Christmas. Words cannot express how wonderful it was to be in our own home and not have to travel. We hosted some friends and family, but that wasn’t even stressful because it was just a few people at once and our overnight guests only stayed for a few days.

And also, because our basement is finished now, we have a whole extra floor/guest room/playroom. (Good thing = more space. Bad thing = more room to clean and for kids to get into trouble. Now my 10 m.o. has TWO flights of stairs to climb at break-neck speed.)

Some holiday highlights:

- Miles frantically cleaning up his room on Christmas Eve so Santa wouldn’t think he already had too many toys.

- Miles opening each present and wanting to play with it immediately. He seemed to like everything he got, even things he hadn’t asked for, and didn’t notice the things he HAD asked for that were missing. ( A motorcycle at 3? I don’t think so!)

- Miles and my dad attempting to read the directions to some new toy and M. saying, “Grandpa, I didn’t know you speak Spanish!”

- My niece singing Rudolph with his nose “like an iPhone.”

- Riley in his cute Christmas outfits, clapping during the school pageant, climbing over the piles of wrapping paper and boxes, and playing with his new toys. (A laptop for a baby? Really?!)

I realized one of the things I liked best about this holiday was having company. Having people around to share the craziness of my daily life with 2 small children.

People who will go into the fridge and grab a juice box without waiting to be served, people who will wipe your baby’s nose for you, people who don’t mind screetching and shouting and balls bouncing off every surface. People who respect nap schedules, don’t care if the catering is provided by Costco and the local pizza place, and understand why the festivities have to end by 8 p.m.

It’s comforting to have comrades in the midst of the chaos. And now that everybody’s gone home and it’s just me and the boys, it’s a little lonely around here. Good thing we have 90 thousand new toys to play with. Note to people who gave us toys with a bazillion tiny pieces: I’m coming for you. I know where you live!

TIP O’ THE WEEK: Quick, before they’ve had time to take inventory, hide some of your kids’ new toys and bring them out later, one by one. Heck, if you want to hide them for months and pass them off as Easter presents, I won’t tell!