December 22, 2009

• Christmas for Mommies

  Christmas is fun when you’re a mommy. For instance, this weekend I addressed a hundred fifty Christmas cards. And licked them and stamped them. Which was fun. All by myself. And it only took me ten hours, so that was fun. The house is all junked up now, but that just gives the stray roaches something to hide in, which is fun for them.

  And today when William woke up with a fever, I got to take him shopping with me and Anna Kathryn, which is always fun, especially now that he’s three and can walk by himself without holding hands, except when he wants to be held because he has a fever. I love holding my babies, so that was fun. And on the escalator when he wanted to stand himself and he fell and almost got his fingers stuck in the treads but didn’t, well, I was happy that he didn’t. And then I got to hold him some more, which was fun. I love going shopping with my kids. Especially when I have several stores to go to and it’s just a quick in-and-out. Because then everyone gets to hold hands and run, which they sometimes actually want to do. So that’s fun.

  Last week, I got to take the twins to Schnucks to buy stuff to bake Christmas cookies, which I love to do, especially after I’ve gotten the kids to bed by which time I’m tired and need pampering, which is always when I have the least self control. So lots of fresh cookies for me, which is fun for my figure.

  Shopping grocery stores is fun with twins, now that they have cars in front of the carts with two seats and two steering wheels. Except when the five-year-old wants to drive. I let her help me push the cart, which usually ends up in cutting an old woman’s legs off at the ankles, which is always a hoot. Especially when I thump my kid on the head and somebody else hears them squeal and gives me a dirty look. I think about sending my kids home with them, which is the most fun I’ve had until we round the corner, and a twin swipes a box of cereal off the shelf with his outstretched hand. The other twin tries to make it a double, which is so fun. They love it when I read them the riot act with lots of other shoppers around.

  Making it through the grocery store during Christmas is a joy by itself, but getting through the checkout line with kids is another delight altogether. Turns out, they stock attractive glass jars of sparkly juice along the checkout lines. I discovered this when two of them smashed at my feet, thanks to a stray three-year-old arm I was unable to catch in time.

  During Christmas, it is especially fun for mommies like me to make a strong cup of Christmas coffee spiked with hot cocoa to help it go down quicker. The four o’clock afternoon pot is the best. I love drinking it standing up while my kids grab my legs and beg for more of those Christmas cookies that mysteriously show up while they sleep. Sometimes, I tell them to go have fun outside. When they complain that it’s cold, I remind them of the little children in Antarctica, bundle them in hats and mittens, and send them out anyway. They love banging on the locked back door once their noses start running, so that works out to being fun for everybody.

  At night, when the kids have had one last peek at the twinkling Christmas lights, and William has finished his ten minute rambling prayer that God will “make help” him and Mommy and Daddy and Anna Kathryn and Stephen and Omie and Papa Bill and Grandma and Grandpa be happy (which is fun because my heart melts and gets to keep melting for a long time while he finishes), then I get my last hugs, and little hands wrap around my neck, and I hear, “I love you, Mommy.” That’s really the most fun part of Christmas. For Mommies, that is.

  • 11:32 am
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