Its a Wonderful Life {Holiday Highlight}

Every January brings a customary greeting between friends and acquaintances, an instinctual question following the initial "Hi" or "How are you?"

"How was your Christmas?"

There are the standard responses you come to expect.

"It was great!"

"Oh, it was so busy."

"Would you believe Justin nearly killed himself stringing up the lights again?"

And then there is my response this year.

I pause. I chuckle a little to myself. I look up at the sky as I try to find the right words, while you stand there thinking: "Jody, this is not a hard question. Did you have a good Christmas or not?"

Ahhh yes, Christmas.  It really was a beautiful Christmas. Indeed, we had a good Christmas.

Christmas is always an amazing and magical time of year.  Children make it even more magical.

Children also make Christmas chaotic. 

Why I have to keep reminding myself of this is beyond me. But each and every December, a part of me still fantasizes about that Hallmark Christmas where I wake peacefully before my children and have a few moments to enjoy my morning coffee before the three of them wander out from their bedrooms, eyes sparkling at the sight of the tree and presents.

Hallmark said nothing about changing dirty diapers before the coffee was even brewing, or refereeing two toddlers as they duke it out over the single phonics toy they just unwrapped. As their fighting was reduced to ear-splitting screams at one another, I found myself wondering exactly why I thought one phonics toy would be a good idea for two toddlers.

{insert forehead smack here}

By the way, I so seldom have to admit I am wrong that when I do - even when I merely type the words - it sends out a little vibration. A tremor, if you will. And just like that, the hubs feels it all the way from the next room: "What's that, honey?  Of course you were wrong. Everyone knows you never buy one toy for two babies."

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What I'm saying is that somewhere along the way (before Christmas, obviously) I forgot how busy the toddler stage is - how much constant tending a parent must do to keep a child from climbing too high, playing in the toilet, biting their sibling(s), slamming their fingers in doors, pulling down a Christmas tree...  and its that crazy with just one toddler. Throw in another one, plus a few not-so-routine Christmas activities like photos with Santa, a few late nights, some traveling, playing with cousins, and opening new toys (just not two phonics toys) and you've got yourself a wild ride.

A few days before Christmas I finished sewing Kendry's Christmas jammies while watching Its a Wonderful Life. One of my favorites.

If you've seen it, you know the part where George comes home at the end of the day, downtrodden and sure he is about to lose everything. He gets irritated over and over again, until Mary finally says, "George, what's wrong?"

George replies: "Wrong? Everything is wrong...Why did we have to have all these kids?"

And just like that I was laughing and laughing, and then nearly crying.

We really do have a wonderful life.

We adore each of our children, and thank the Lord for them every day. 

But occasionally I convince myself that our holidays, our mornings, our life - should look like that movie, that magazine cover, that blog, and I forget how to simply live in our NOW - and be thankful for our now.

Our now this Christmas was special.  

We watched the boys perform in their Christmas programs, although 'perform' might be too strong a word for Cohen, as evidenced in the video.

We made gingerbread houses with friends.

We rode with Santa on his Harley.

We made silly snacks.

We continued to form our own family traditions - attending Christmas Eve service, making homemade pizzas for dinner and then opening Christmas jammies.

There was a little basketball.

There was a little snow.

There was a lot of extra volume with Kendry's new guitar and the twins' new blocks, which incidentally make an incredible crash against our hard floors.

But our now this Christmas also included some chaos, and that is okay.  That is real.

"Please just sit still for one second...at the same time..."

So when you ask me "How was your Christmas?" I will be real with you. This Christmas was a lot of work, but it was wonderful.

Oh, and I totally made up the part about Justin nearly killing himself while stringing up the lights.

That was two years ago.