I've spent years perfecting the planning and execution of the holidays so that everything will be just perfect. While I don't Christmas shop right after Labor Day, I am making calculated moves in early October to try and make sure everything runs smoothly. For example, it makes life easier if I don't have to run to Target on December 24th for toilet paper or tooth paste, so I've stocked up on basic toiletries and household essentials by mid-November. I've negotiated the holiday social calendar. My wrapping paper, tape and bows were inventoried and re-stocked before Thanksgiving. Fly Lady (and others) insist that if I take care of the details early, I have control over the rest of the holiday season and I'll be able to handle anything. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: They lie, and I've swallowed their lie, hook, line and sinker.
Here are just a few of the things that have happened over the years that have made Christmas time a little more stressful, in spite of my best-laid plans:
*The heater broke and the house went down to 57 degrees
*All three of my kids came down with chicken pox - one right after the other - leaving me quarantined for three weeks in December
*Every single major appliance in our house broke at least once between December 1st and January 15th
*Baird woke up very early on Christmas Eve morning to muscle spasms in his back that were so bad he could hardly move. We spent the early morning hours in the ER where they shot him full of drugs. He slept the entire day, and was still so out of it he kept falling asleep at the dinner table with all the relatives. He barely remembers opening gifts with my extended family that night. A few days later, Erin wound up in the same ER with a 104.5 degree fever
*Car trouble on the way to Mom & Dad's left us stranded in a small-town hotel on December 23rd. I awoke in said hotel in the middle of the night to hear my son hurling in his sleep, projectile vomitting in the bed he was sharing with his sisters. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like cleaning up a sick child and switching hotel rooms at 2am
*Kelsey was so sick one Christmas Day she didn't even want to open gifts. We ended up spending New Year's Eve with her in the hospital as she fought off a kidney infection
So when my doctor recently told me, "You have walking pneumonia," it seemed a little early for the big holiday disaster, but I honestly thought, Well, at least we're getting the big crisis out of the way early this year. Once I sufficiently recover, we'll be home free. Oops. I shouldn't have tempted the Christmas Gremlins.
This afternoon and evening were supposed to be set aside for getting our Christmas tree, putting the lights on, and decorating it.
The upstairs toilet started leaking in a serious way, to the point we can't use it. So while we were able to get our Christmas tree this afternoon...
...it still looks like this:
and it's destined to spend most of this week in this undecorated state. I had a choice: allow Baird to work on the toilet so it would be functioning, or make him put lights on the tree. While I want to see my tree decorated, the need for the upstairs toilet to be functioning is far greater, so I opted for a flushing toilet that doesn't leak over lights on the tree. My best laid plans, thwarted once again.
Christmas Gremlins, I swear: you may have pushed me down, but I am not out. In spite of these setbacks,we will continue with our time-honored traditions and enjoy this Christmas season. The theme of the second week of Advent is hope, and it springs eternal at my house.
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