f.i.v.e.

Five minute Friday purge, coming up:


It's about 2:30 and  I just sat down to eat a little sandwich and breathe.  I didn't post all week but what can I say?  It's that time of year when it is just so busy.  I dropped Brooke off at school and went out to try to cross off as much as I could from my last minute Christmas things to-do list.  Sometimes it feels so crazy, twisting yourself in knots to find the perfect gift, or to go nuts trying to make sure everyone will be giddy on Christmas morning.  Somewhere along the way, when it's all about the presents under the tree, it seems like something has been lost, don't you think?  Don't get me wrong, I love to give gifts (and I definitely enjoy getting them, hoho).  


I love to have a magical Christmas morning, but I also love to crowd around the appetizer table at my Dad's on Christmas Eve, fighting my sisters for the last bite of whatever was so great.  I love to hop in the car with my kids and steamy cups of hot chocolate and drive around town oohing at aahing at all of the lights.  I love to listen to The Polar Express book on tape with my kids snuggled up beside me. I love to spend some peaceful, non-stressy days with my family, my sisters and parents.  Just playing ridiculous amounts of games, eating lots of great food, making fun of each other, hanging out and laughing.  I love imperfect Christmas cookies, made by happy kid hands.  I love watching the snow fall.  I love waking up to see it quiet and perfect, tree branches heavy and white.  I love the Christmas days when you have to bundle up and you can see your breath in front of you.  


I'm not sure what I am getting at.  Maybe just that I hope my kids grasp that it shouldn't just be about the things we get. I think it should also be about the reasons we actually do all of this stuff.  And those reasons don't have to be the same for everyone, for sure.  My reasons are pretty simple I guess.


Well.  Shockingly, this five minute purge turned into a fifteen minute pensive spew of thought.  Sorry about that.