If you actually complete all your ‘to-do’ lists on a daily basis during the holiday season, it is easy to lose yourself. Sure, you may have all your presents bought and started addressing your holiday cards, but where is the love?
It is so easy to get swept up in the momentum of holiday madness. You say ‘yes’ to your child’s classroom teacher, you say ‘yes’ to buying more presents, you say ‘yes’ to giving all that you are and then some.
Maybe ‘no’ is something worth considering.
What if we all said ‘no’ a little bit more this season and focused our ‘yesses’ on the people we cherish most in this world?
I certainly am thinking of three guys that I would love to hang out with more as Christmas and the New Year approaches.
boys play matchbox cars to pass the time at the ophthalmologist's
We are seated in the tiny eye exam room. I am so beyond stressed that I actually feel kind of calm.
These visits to the pediatric ophthalmologist are not without uncertainty.
Will Full Speed test well?
Is T.Puzzle in a cooperative mood?
I try to convince myself it’s no big deal. I mean only the future of my children’s vision is at stake here.
We wait for the eye doctor.
She breezes into the room with grace and confidence.
She clearly adores my boys.
This helps.
Full Speed is an unexpected rock star of vision testing.
He tests 20/40 in his right eye and 20/30 in his left.
I almost faint.
He then proceeds to read a line of print so teeny-tiny, I’m positive that only someone with superhuman eyesight could read it (no, it’s not that I’m old in the least and had to squint to read the line myself).
I almost faint again.
I get goosebumps on top of my goosebumps. My heart fills with immeasurable gratitude.
It hardly phases me that T.Puzzle is mostly uncooperative. He holds steady at 20/50 and 20/70.
I’ll take it.
During this arduous process of eye surgeries, doctor’s appointments and visits to the ophthalmologist, I have learned that I cannot control the level of vision that each of my boys will attain.
All I can control is how I feel about it.
And today for the first time in my life, I feel absolutely amazing about their vision.
My baby is now officially in big boy territory. Let’s hope like his brother before him, this increases his awesomeness tenfold. Let’s leave the terrible ones, twos and threes behind us forever.
The birth of a child is always a vivid memory. T.Puzzle’s stands out because I went into labor (after a solid month of miserably contracting for no reason) on the night of our third wedding anniversary. I was in complete denial. I can even remember the clothes I was wearing in great detail. That’s mainly because I was so huge (T.Puzzle ended up being a healthy 9lb 7oz), I only had one semi-dressy maternity outfit that fit me reasonably well. Black pants, with a huge amount of stretch no less, and a long-sleeved black tunic with red and white dots to top off this stylish ensemble. Pregnancy is certainly not about the fashion.
When I realized that the Braxton Hicks I was having were actually closer to the real deal, we went to the hospital where I continued to deny I was in labor. I even got to watch an episode of Sex and the City on TBS as we waited to see if I dilated more.
Eventually, I couldn’t deny it any longer. T.Puzzle came into this world and screamed louder than any newborn I have ever known. I remember thinking, ‘baby, you’re suppose to be my easy one,’ and this only seemed to increase his volume.
Easy or not, he is the best second kid anyone could hope for.
Mad Dog and I had a date night planned so we could Christmas shop for the boys. While at Super Target, Mad Dog lobbied for a miniature version of our Christmas tree for the boys’ room.
Full Speed and T.Puzzle were fast asleep when we returned home. Mad Dog silently placed the small tree in their room. We tiptoed out and anxiously anticipated a big reaction once the tree was discovered in the morning.
They boys were dazzled.
There was much animated discussion on how the tree came to be in their room. The idea that made the most sense were elves of course.
Later that morning T.Puzzle tried to explain to his teacher about the mysterious tree.
“Who do you think put it there?” she asked.
“I think it was robbers,” he suggested his eyes wide with certainty.
I love a good thief. Not only did this ‘thief’ not steal a single item from our home, he or she left it beautifully decorated.
Whew! Full Speed had a whole week off and T.Puzzle stayed home most of the week, too.
You know some mayhem ensued.
Oh how it did.
We were a busy bunch.
The week started with a ‘date’ for Mom and Full Speed.
The boys saw Santa with their cousin.
We celebrated Thanksgiving and Mad Dog’s birthday. And yes, as a nation, I do believe in our entirety, we felt extreme gratitude that Mad Dog’s birthday coincided on this special day. Or something like that.
Then, Mad Dog and I celebrated his birthday again as Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Pink graciously hosted our boys. Upon our return, it is unlikely they will be invited back anytime soon. Apparently, someone really needs to talk to their parents about their rowdy behavior. Our apologies.
love you, Mad Dog!
Then, if all that wasn’t enough, we decorated our Christmas tree. I tried oh-so-hard to let the boys do their thing without anxiously hovering about. They seemed to have fun and I did too, just as long as all our breakable ornaments were hung at the top of the tree (by me!).
By the end of the week, we had two very tired boys on our hands.
So glad they have an 'off' switch.
When all was said and done, the thing that I am most grateful for is that I was actually sad to send them back to school because we had so much fun together.
Mothering these two strong spirited boys has not been without challenge. To be able to say that I am honestly going to miss them as they trounce back to school is a turning point.
I am learning that even though there were days during vacation that they drove me to tears with their outlandish and stubborn behavior, I am now beginning to see the emergence of who they really are underneath.
