| 12/2006 - O Holy Cow |
By: By Susan Brook Day - December 2006
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The holidays are a time for merry-making and getting together with loved ones, but this may be a bit over the top: I have five different families coming to spend Christmas at my house! All are loved ones, and I threw out the invitation long before Thanksgiving. Then, one-by-one, replies came back: from big sister Julie in Atlanta, GA: Yes! From little sister Wendy in Lancaster, PA: Yes! From big brother Tod in Tucson, AZ: Yes! From little brother Mark in Dallas, TX: Yes! and from Dad in Moraga, CA: Yes! All are married, and most have children, and ALL will be arriving on Dec. 23. YIKES!
A friend of mine said, “What, are you NUTS?!” And I just nodded and said, “Yes, I am. But I also never get to see everyone and — much less at the same time — neither do my kids!” How insane can it get?
Fact is, we’re all getting older, and so are the little ones. How many more times will everyone be able to get together in one place?
So talk about a list and checking it twice. I’m borrowing a couple of large round tables from a girlfriend for Christmas Eve dinner. I’m furiously pawing through a copy of The Do-Ahead Diva, and my making-a-list-and-checking-it-twice list is actually multitudinous scraps of paper posted here, there and everywhere. My younger sister and I put our heads together to organize a gift exchange so no one has to feel like they have to buy something for everyone, but then big sister Julie piped in that she WANTS to buy “just a little sumpin’!” for everyone, which puts the pressure on a bit.
Everyone has been assigned a stocking to fill. Everyone is being asked to bring one small additional present for a fun round of “Dirty Santa,” and everyone will be assigned kitchen prep for some meal or other based upon my menus (good idea, right?).
That doesn’t mean that I have things under control.
In this column next month, I’ll give you a full report about what it was like to have 22 people under the same roof of my four-bedrooms-and-a-playroom house loaded with sleeping bags. I’ll tell you if I was successful at NOT losing it at some point over the holidays, and I’ll give you pointers for in fact HOW to have a great time and enjoy your once-in-a-lifetime Christmas, too.
And then there will be the portrait taken to preserve the moment for years to come. “Oh, that was the Christmas when ...” The blank remains to be filled. A portrait will be taken after everyone has finally arrived and is all under one roof. Before we are too close for comfort ... before any overwhelmed emotions bring tears ... before we have the chance to start talking about our true lives, where we are, where we’ve been and what we’re hoping for. Before anyone’s had too much of a good thing.
It is a wonderful life. That’s my motto to get me through it all — what’s yours?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! |
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