The month of the December may be the busiest month of the year for parents with school aged children, vying only with May (the month of graduations, presentations, and Mother’s day teas) for countless events families are obligated to attend.
With kids in two different schools, our activity load this month is double: two holiday class parties, two teacher appreciation contributions (there are actually 9 teachers to appreciate), two evening events, etc. Add in Sunday school, practice for the Christmas Eve paegent, breakfast with Santa, a few holiday attractions and some shopping, and there’s a full calendar hanging in my kitchen.
It gets a little tiring. It gets a expensive. When my son gets up from the dinner table, announces, “I tired,” and then proceeds to climb into his bed by himself and fall asleep, I know we’ve been running a bit too much.
But then we hit upon an unexpected winner or two, and that’s what will be added to my mental holiday memory book. There’s the house we randomly found Friday night with its lights synchronized to music, to which my daughter exclaimed, “This house must be famous!” There’s the living nativity we walked through, and as we were leaving both kids were asking if we could return again next year. There’s the fact that they sing, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to each other (the part about “you’d better be good for goodness sake”). These little moments are the ones that keep me going when I’m frantically searching for an address for a Christmas card, or trying to coordinate travel plans with family members. It’s those little moments, the unpredictable ones, that make this season special.