As I sit here this morning surrounded by Christmas lights, watching a Hallmark Christmas movie with my hot cocoa, while my children are still sleeping, I realized that Christmas is this Friday. By some miracle I had all of my gifts purchased and wrapped five days before Christmas. Now it’s time to relax! Oh wait, I’m a mom.
Christmas time is stressful. Christmas with children brings stress to a whole new level. Christmas in our house is about family and friends and gifts and food and Christmas lights and trees. It’s about making memories and building on both old and new traditions. It’s about seeing the smile on their faces when they unwrap that special gift. It’s about love.
But it’s also about reminding myself to take a moment and step back, and look at all that I have accomplished this season. I’ve managed wish lists, elf on the shelf, decorated both inside and outside, shopped ‘til I dropped, created potential Christmas day menus and more. Why do I do all of this? Because I want to make Christmas special for my family. But guess what? I’m tired.
Doing all of this Christmas prep is exhausting. Moms don’t get breaks often. Moms are on all of the time. At Christmas time moms are in overdrive. We have to get the house prepped and cleaned for company, cook the meal, wrap the gifts and put them under the tree, stress over the perfect place to hide the elf one last time before he goes back in the box for another year, and run to the store for any last-minute details you may have forgotten. So when do moms get time to just enjoy the moment?
My time comes when I am sitting on the floor with my coffee watching my kids unwrap their gifts. I’m always so excited to watch their reactions. I love getting smiles and even a scream once in a while because they were so surprised. The best is the happy tears though. I love the happy tears. They make all of this stress seem worth it. I just wish I could figure out how to make Christmas a more relaxing time for parents.
I’m torn because on one hand I would love to have someone doing all of the behind-the-scenes prep for me, and making sure everything is taken care of while I just relax. But I also feel like I would be sad from missing out on all of the memories I make when I go through the motions and get things done. So I guess instead of hiring someone to do all of my work I will just continue to do it with little complaining and when the next year comes, I will unpack everything and do it all over again.
I love Christmas. I just wish it was a little less chaotic so I could enjoy the moment a little bit more. I wish I would take more pictures and sing more Christmas carols and dance in the kitchen, watch more cheesy Christmas movies and just be happy with what I have in life. This time of the year can be a challenge. But I hope my children see all of the little details I put into making it the best Christmas for them. I hope they know how much I love them, and I hope one day I will realize I really do enjoy all of the behind-the-scenes work it takes to make wonderful memories and traditions.
I guess all I really want for Christmas is a nap and for someone else to do the dishes after dinner. Is that really too much to ask for?
From me to you I wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And don’t forget to take a moment to just enjoy yourself. Take that picture, sing that song, watch that movie. Whatever it takes, just make sure you get a little break before the chaos of Christmas Day begins.
Steph Hightree is a hot mess mom who is fueled by stress and too much caffeine. She is a Three Rivers native who talks about the good, the bad, and well, everything else about parenthood.
Any views or opinions expressed in “#MomLife” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Watershed Voice staff or its board of directors.
