Tuesday, December 27, 2011

THE DAYS AFTER . . . .

My dear cousin, Jeanette, has the gift of writing and uses phrases I borrow from time to time. She recently sent an email and mentioned "...skidding into Christmas...". She was right-on-the-mark with that phrase. I did indeed skid into Christmas. I saw it coming down the track like a freight train and tried to apply the brakes in order to make the pre-Christmas feeling last, but I was unsuccessful in slowing down the time. How I wish I had the power to stop time for a little while - just long enough to complete projects and finish cleaning, decorating, and baking with time for a little relaxing and movie-watching before the festivities begin. That's my dream, my goal, every single year, but I always fall short. I won't use the word, "fail" because my efforts were not failures, but there are always things I want to do that don't get done and things I forget. The weeks prior to Christmas seemed more hectic this year than in years past, unless my memory is faulty, and that's a distict possibility. Actually, I do remember being as tired and worn in past years as I was in this one, but time is the great healer. Jeanette expresses exactly how I feel when she suggests (I'm paraphrasing here) we keep trying to present Norman Rockwell versions of Christmas but those fall apart. Why do I feel I need to present a perfect holiday? First, being a flawed human, it's impossible to be perfect at anything.....and second, there is no need to try to be perfect. My family and friends know who I am. They know I am flawed. They forgive my shortcomings (I hope) and support my efforts by their words and actions. I'm the one who is hard on myself. Everyone who came to join us in this new old house during the holidays was very kind and complimentary. It seemed to me everybody had a good time being here. Glenn and I had a wonderful time hosting them. Today I'm forgiving myself for not remembering to give my sister her gift bag that's sitting in the closet, for not remembering to make the delicious grape salad I had planned, for not remembering to let the grandkids bake cookies on Christmas Day as we'd said we would, for not letting my holiday meal warm sufficiently in the oven before serving it, and for not realizing 18 people could NOT sit around the table in the diningroom. None of those things caused the celebration to end. So what if we didn't have a Norman Rockwell Christmas. Who does? If I tried to list all the things that went well, I'd be here typing for a long time. I'm attempting to get a headstart on the New Year by trying to let go of the things I considered shortcomings. I want to move forward and strive to do better. In my life, there is always room for improvement. I sincerely hope your Christmas was merry and that your New Year will be bright and happy.    

3 comments:

Cat Nap Inn Primitives said...

Yeah I long for the norman rockwell christmas too..this year was low key and you know it was great..not too many decorations this year and it was nice actually..cause it sure was fast putting it all away..hope you have a wonderful new year..would love to see your home decorated for the holidays though..:)

Merilyn said...

You know Kady, I bet everyone left your new old house very happy indeed!!! It's only us, who host, who know what is missing, not clean or tidy enough, not enough of etc, - most people are there to enjoy the company and to share a meal together, it could have taken place in the barn (minus the cats LOL!) and still everyone would have had a good time....some of us are too hard on ourselves, darn overachievers LOL!!!! yes I can be one of them too....
I wish for you and your family a wonderful safe holiday season and all the best for 2012!!!

nancy huggins said...

I think Christmas is one of the hardest times of year to get through..Went to WM yesterday and right next to the Christmas clearance items was displays of stuff for Valentine's day..I am not ready for another holiday and my DD birthday is Feb 28th and have to think of something she would like..maybe a grocery gift card..cheaper to mail and the right size and color.
Take care and Happy new year