Friday, December 30, 2011

The 12 Days of Christmas

All four kids are home from school for "Winter Break."

I like to think of it as "The 12 Days of Christmas" since they are getting exactly 12 school days off. Of course, only 2 of them were actually before Christmas proper, but since "Christmas" in our household continues until Epiphany (this year Jan. 8th), I think it's pretty appropriate. I'm trying not to add three weekend days to my count because then I would realize I actually have 18 days of trying to entertain and keep four kids busy.

Joy!

'Cause really, it is a gift to have them home all this time... really.

The past week has been spent preparing for Christmas and then enjoying their gifts. This is the easy part. Mostly. Today has been a whiny day as some of the luster is wearing off Kylie's Barbie Town House (With Toilet that Makes a Flushing Sound!) and nobody is at all interested in helping to clean up the detritus from Christmas morning. It is kind-of sad when you look at all the now-empty boxes and ribbon remnants littering the ground, but enough is enough and the mess has to go.

What you will not find us doing is actually taking down our decorations. It is, after all, still Christmas. I find it sad when friends say they've already boxed up their decorations and lights the day after Christmas. My interior adornments will stay until Epiphany. We did find it necessary to remove several lighted penguins from the front yard as they would not, could not, stay upright. I was tired of repositioning them every single day, only to come outside and find them belly-down on the grass like a bunch of drunk monkeys. The inflatable penguins, however, will stay at least until the weekend. 

The next order of business is deciding what to do for New Year's Eve. We used to be big party-givers until we started having kids. Even then we frequently had several friends over for late-night celebrations. This all ended around the year 2000, when our close friends were out of town and we were waiting for whatever craziness might ensue with the advent of Y2K (remember that phrase??) Obvious, nothing happened, and we came to label that night The Lamest New Year's Ever. 

Nearly 12 year's later, we are still celebrating The Lamest New Year's Ever, only now our four children all stay up to take part and we have developed some fun new traditions. The non-stop drinkfest of our younger days has been replaced with a fondue party. We attempt to play board games until somebody gets mad and quits (usually Kylie, but occasionally Keaton). and then we all fight to stay awake until The Ball drops. 

It's... fun. It is. I don't miss the drinkfests (okay, maybe a little), but we enjoy spending that time together as a family. 

And after that, it's only one more week till school starts up for the kids! I still haven't registered for anymore classes for me... maybe this will be my year? 

Last Minute Update... We are moving The Lamest New Year's Ever to St. Augustine this year! It might not be so lame after all!