Christmas: A time to lower expectations.

I love Christmas.  I cry every year when the break is over.  I love spending time with my family and watching my kids' eyes light up with joy and all that.  So don't get me wrong here.

But, this year we went with the whole "we are not going overboard on crap, and these kids can just get over themselves" approach.  And I still stand by my philosophy that it was good for them.  

(The grandparents more than made up for our general apathy this year, obviously).

Santa brought Mia an ant farm and Bode an over-the-door basketball goal.  And at the last minute I unwrapped the Lego Creationary game that Andy and I had planned to give them just to beef it up a bit.

Mia took one look at her ant farm and got a look on her face that said, "What did I do to deserve this."  In my defense, the kid is impossible to buy for and Bode told her that I bought her a book light at the store (the one thing she asked for from Santa) so that was blown.  Anyway, "meh" was the theme of the morning.

And then all the Lashley ladies went to Inspirations Tea Room for lunch and I started running my mouth about how Andy and I had to search high and low to find that silly Creationary game without thinking a thing about what I was saying, which happens to be the story of my life.  (When will I learn?)  

And there sat Mia with big tears rolling down her face.  She leaned over and whispered to me, "But Mama, Santa brought us that game."

And there was no way to recover.  I had blown the whole Santa thing without even realizing it.  In a way I was kind of relieved that at least she didn't think Santa was a jerk.  She knows we are and she's used to that.  

So then she asked if she could return her ant farm.  I said no, only because I bought it on Amazon and didn't save the paperwork.  

And just like that I shattered my daughters dreams.
Bode's still picking his nose and playing secret hideout in my shower so I think we still have a few more years of the Santa game with him.

And then Andy and I went away on our traditional New Years getaway to Dallas.  When we were halfway there Andy decided to tell me that he had a fever but not to worry, he wasn't really sick at all, it was just a fluke.

Of course he didn't pack so much as a single Tylenol.  Which would have been fine for a person who wasn't actually sick.  He went to bed at the hotel and didn't get up until 4:00 PM the next day.

And not to be outdone, my parents ended up having to take Bode to the ER in the middle of the night.  I am happy to report that this is Bode's personal record for meeting our deductible - 20 minutes into the new year.  Way to go, son!

Perhaps my kids were a little underwhelmed by their gifts from us this year.  But we spent hours together playing games, laughing, snuggling, and drinking hot chocolate with more marshmallows than cocoa in the cups.  And that is exactly why I loved every minute of it.