After a whirlwind yet joyful Christmas, I find myself finally able to take a breath and look back over the last week. It went down something like this……

(Sing along, please.)

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true loves gave to me:

12 broken ears and legs on the creatures in our nativity set. Thaddeus likes to carry them around in his mouth. Thankfully, Baby Jesus was spared.

11 mornings of irritation when our lazy elf didn’t bother to move. Lazy elf. Maybe he’ll be more motivated in 2016. Unlikely.

10 trips to the grocery to get that one ingredient. Only to realize there was another ingredient needed, as well. Like eggs, milk and bread.

9 million spent on gifts that will end up in our yard sale for $1.

8 discussions from our kids about tornadoes while attempting to drive around on a rather windy night and peacefully view Christmas lights. So long, stupid new tradition.

7 year old’s birthday where the mom was deranged enough to buy the requested cotton candy maker. (Me. It was me.)

6 attempts at wrapping gifts before being interrupted. 6 moments of regaining self control before screaming, “You’re gonna find out about Santa if you come in again!!”

5 people searching for days for lost eyeglasses hidden neatly underneath a child’s bed.

4 kids who might need full-out reprogramming from a week’s worth of Christmas overload.

3 bottles of ibuprofen. I blamed the weather, but let’s be real…..it was the post-cotton candy kids.

2 ruined batches of cinnamon roll dough for Christmas morning. We ate cereal.

And one raging case of pink eye!

Alas, all was not lost because…..

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true loves also gave to me:

12 solid minutes of uninterrupted conversation with other adults.

11 chances to tease my mom at a ‘big kids only dinner’ with my parents and siblings. It’s so much more fun in a group setting.

10 opportunities to hold my new nephew and adore his cuteness.

9 requests a day for cotton candy and Pie in the Face game playing.

8 new outfit combinations after my sister did her bi-annual wardrobe review in my closet. Bye-bye, mom jeans! Move over, mock turtlenecks.

7 AM or later wake ups since no one had anywhere to be! Felt luxurious considering the 2 AM and 4 AM wake ups from a four year old who is “scared of the windows and trees with eyes.”

6 more requests from the same four year old for a ‘real milking cow.’

5 mesmerized kids who happened to catch what looked remarkably like Santa’s sleigh traveling over our neighborhood on Christmas Eve.

4 unbelievably fun Christmas parties where we ate too much and laughed too hard.

3 thousand belly laughs with all-day pajama wearing kids. And parents.

2 adorable cousins too young to refuse to wear matching outfits.

1 gift. And the peace in knowing that one Gift, greater than all others and delivered over 2,000 years ago in tiny Bethlehem, lives today.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

E

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