Christmas Came----Christmas Went
I mean it came so fast...and now...by Tues the 26th my tree is down.
My reality for the "holidays" as in Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I will always be the reason my husband doesn't go home to visit his family for the holidays. (Can anyone detect the sarcasm?)..when really....my husband is in RETAIL management. Yes that's right..you've heard of "blackout dates" for cheap airfare...there are "blackout dates" that Jeff is not allowed to take vacation. October 22nd - January 10th. NO vacation days. He can "request" a day off to be his scheduled day off...but NO continuous days off because as of Oct. 22nd they also go to MANDATORY 6 day weeks til Jan. 10th. BUT I AM THE REASON. "Angie's family expects you there..."
YA think? Because my husband works 60+ hours a week the entire month of December. If his family HONESTLY thinks watching my husband fall asleep sitting up while my family opens presents on Christmas Eve at 7pm is FUN for me....uh...no. He then got up Christmas morning at 7:30am and opened gifts with our kids, I made breakfast and by 9am Casey was ready for a morning nap so down they went together. They slept until 11:15.
Again, after much yawning on his part and opening gifts at my Dad's house...Casey was ready for a nap around 2:30pm, when I let Jeff lie down with her AGAIN. He napped til 4pm and she slept til 4:30pm.
The rest of the month...a blur for my husband...he remembers very little.
By Tuesday I was pretty wiped and as my husband went off to work again 8am-6pm for one of the busiest shopping days of the year...my wonderful teenaged son and I looked around the house at the open boxes of clothing, toys, CDs, DVDs and just stared at each other.
"Mom, we got a lot of shit."
"KYLE"
"Oops sorry. Mom, we got a lot of STUFF."
At this point I'm giggling hysterically because yes..sign me up for the bad parent of the year...I think it's utterly hysterical when a cuss word slips from his mouth. I also think it's hysterical when he walks away mooning me, burps, farts or snorts pop through his nose laughing at a TV commercial...what can I say? I'm the MOTHER of a TEENAGE son...most of these things are utterly hysterical.
"Yes...Kyle.... we did."
"Mom we SO need to get a house.. (which is ironic since we are in the summer..but anyway...). I can't even see the floor over there."
"Yes...I know. What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know...I hate to say this...but we need that corner. I think we need to take the tree down."
"Yes....Kyle I think your right..but it's only the 26th. We always leave the tree up til after New Years."
"Well I know but I hate the thought of Casey not being able to play with all her new toys...Can't we just leave Christmas lights up in the living room with the Christmas cards....for another week."
"Sounds like a plan...."
So for the first time ever I took down my Christmas tree on December 26th. I felt like Mrs. Grinch that Hated Christmas ever. I actually cried at one point. What am I a loser? Jeez...it's just a tree...then it dawned on me...this would be the last time I would have the tree up in MY apartment.
The first apartment I had on my own. The apartment I have lived in for 9 years. The first place I called home after my divorce from my first husband. The place I begged Jeff to move into because I couldn't move Kyle from the only place he'd ever called home. As of July we will be moving. We are going to rent to own my Mom's house. ( I know that sounds odd but she can't LEGALLY sell the place til 2009 so it's the only way to move in while not throwing rent out the window).
This time next year, we'll be in a house. That was very overwhelming to me. Maybe because I realize that despite the fact that I'm on my 2nd marriage with 2 children...and about to turn 34. I AM TURNING INTO A GROWNUP....when in the hell did THAT happen?
Anyway, a few hours later Kyle and I had taken down the tree, put the boxes back in our storage unit in the basement, organized what we now refer to as "Casey's Corner", vacuumed and dusted. With no tree, no half open clothes boxes, no tiny remnants of corners of wrapping paper stuck to tape...it didn't even look like Christmas happened around my house...which really made me very sad.
My reality for the "holidays" as in Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I will always be the reason my husband doesn't go home to visit his family for the holidays. (Can anyone detect the sarcasm?)..when really....my husband is in RETAIL management. Yes that's right..you've heard of "blackout dates" for cheap airfare...there are "blackout dates" that Jeff is not allowed to take vacation. October 22nd - January 10th. NO vacation days. He can "request" a day off to be his scheduled day off...but NO continuous days off because as of Oct. 22nd they also go to MANDATORY 6 day weeks til Jan. 10th. BUT I AM THE REASON. "Angie's family expects you there..."
YA think? Because my husband works 60+ hours a week the entire month of December. If his family HONESTLY thinks watching my husband fall asleep sitting up while my family opens presents on Christmas Eve at 7pm is FUN for me....uh...no. He then got up Christmas morning at 7:30am and opened gifts with our kids, I made breakfast and by 9am Casey was ready for a morning nap so down they went together. They slept until 11:15.
Again, after much yawning on his part and opening gifts at my Dad's house...Casey was ready for a nap around 2:30pm, when I let Jeff lie down with her AGAIN. He napped til 4pm and she slept til 4:30pm.
The rest of the month...a blur for my husband...he remembers very little.
By Tuesday I was pretty wiped and as my husband went off to work again 8am-6pm for one of the busiest shopping days of the year...my wonderful teenaged son and I looked around the house at the open boxes of clothing, toys, CDs, DVDs and just stared at each other.
"Mom, we got a lot of shit."
"KYLE"
"Oops sorry. Mom, we got a lot of STUFF."
At this point I'm giggling hysterically because yes..sign me up for the bad parent of the year...I think it's utterly hysterical when a cuss word slips from his mouth. I also think it's hysterical when he walks away mooning me, burps, farts or snorts pop through his nose laughing at a TV commercial...what can I say? I'm the MOTHER of a TEENAGE son...most of these things are utterly hysterical.
"Yes...Kyle.... we did."
"Mom we SO need to get a house.. (which is ironic since we are in the summer..but anyway...). I can't even see the floor over there."
"Yes...I know. What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know...I hate to say this...but we need that corner. I think we need to take the tree down."
"Yes....Kyle I think your right..but it's only the 26th. We always leave the tree up til after New Years."
"Well I know but I hate the thought of Casey not being able to play with all her new toys...Can't we just leave Christmas lights up in the living room with the Christmas cards....for another week."
"Sounds like a plan...."
So for the first time ever I took down my Christmas tree on December 26th. I felt like Mrs. Grinch that Hated Christmas ever. I actually cried at one point. What am I a loser? Jeez...it's just a tree...then it dawned on me...this would be the last time I would have the tree up in MY apartment.
The first apartment I had on my own. The apartment I have lived in for 9 years. The first place I called home after my divorce from my first husband. The place I begged Jeff to move into because I couldn't move Kyle from the only place he'd ever called home. As of July we will be moving. We are going to rent to own my Mom's house. ( I know that sounds odd but she can't LEGALLY sell the place til 2009 so it's the only way to move in while not throwing rent out the window).
This time next year, we'll be in a house. That was very overwhelming to me. Maybe because I realize that despite the fact that I'm on my 2nd marriage with 2 children...and about to turn 34. I AM TURNING INTO A GROWNUP....when in the hell did THAT happen?
Anyway, a few hours later Kyle and I had taken down the tree, put the boxes back in our storage unit in the basement, organized what we now refer to as "Casey's Corner", vacuumed and dusted. With no tree, no half open clothes boxes, no tiny remnants of corners of wrapping paper stuck to tape...it didn't even look like Christmas happened around my house...which really made me very sad.
posted by Brown Eyed Girl at
9:44 AM
2 Comments:
That's sort of how I felt except I haven't taken down my tree yet. The worst part was that the kids have been shuffled and will be shuffled some more. They are in NC this week, Virginia the next.
Sigh.
I asked Jason what we could do to make Christmas seem like Christmas and he said, "Revert to childhood?"
BIGGER SIGH.
We were in the process of moving so we didn't even put up a tree. To tell you the truth, I don't even know where it is.
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