Every year I have delusions of grandeur about the holidays (all of them). I’m going to cook fancy food, perfectly decorate my home, take fabulous pictures, and create lifetimes of traditions and memories for my family. And every year, I do basically none of those things. Y’all, I’m not great at holidays.
I have a really hard time keeping up with “traditions.” I did salt dough ornaments and gave them out as gifts for a couple of years. Then I skipped a couple of years. Oops.
I thought the idea of wrapping up Christmas books for every day of December was such a great idea. But that seems like a huge waste of wrapping paper. Oops.
I’ve had an Elf on the Shelf for 4 years, but I’ve never opened it. Oops.
Decorations are so expensive. I always tell myself I’ll buy them after the holiday at deep discounts. But I end up with a hodge podge of random things that don’t go together. Oops.
I don’t think I could bake a turkey to save my life. Oops.
I lost all of the little cards in the Advent calendar with the scriptures. Oops.
I’ll wrap every present in beautiful paper with handmade bows. But I still have a few rolls of the dollar store paper I bought 5 years ago, and I’m fresh out of ribbon. Oops.
I sent Christmas cards the year after my daughter was born but haven’t since then. That was four years ago. Oops.
I decide we’ll go to all of the fun holiday events in Baton Rouge this year. But I hate traffic. And crowds. And writing things down on my calendar. Oops.
I’m convinced that we’ll get the perfect Santa picture this year. But my 4-year-old still doesn’t want to be within 100 feet of the dude. Oops.
I want to get professional family pictures done, but I can’t decide on a date and can’t seem to figure out how to coordinate outfits. Oops.
But … we do make a homemade pizza on Christmas day complete with a candle and a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday. Yay.
And we do stay up late watching movies and snuggling on the couch with hot cocoa. Yay.
And we do take a selfie in our pajamas with crazy hair and no makeup. Yay.
And we do leave (store bought) cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Yay.
And we do drive around the subdivision to look at the lights on the houses of our neighbors who are more dedicated than I am at perfecting their outdoor decor. Yay.
And we do at least walk by Santa at the mall and wave. From a safe distance. Yay.
And we do try to remember to grab a name off the Angel Tree and pick out some gifts for a child who may not otherwise have any. Yay.
And we do drop our change in the Salvation Army bucket after one of our many errands. Yay.
And we do attempt to make it to the candle light service at church no more than 10 minutes late. Yay.
Yes, I’m disorganized and a wee bit lazy. But what I lack in keeping up traditions and perfection, I make up for in love, giggles, and a little bit of giving. I hope that is good enough.
