Post Christmas Sentiments
I've sort of put off writing because two thirds of the people who view this blog are here in Utah with me. Suddenly I'm not sending this out into a void of blank emails. You are faces I might see even as I click "publish post". This also makes it very hard to go into personal details as perhaps I might offend someone and perhaps that person might decide to make me a nasty snack later, or leave an inconspicuous banana peel on the stairs just as I'm about to descend. Hence, I shall be very bureaucratic and not mention particulars, simply to save my neck. (Click picture to link to more pictures of the Baxter Family Christmas. Thanks to Mary and Adrienne for some of their pics.)
Since people tout the importance of playing down a secular Christmas I capitulated to the humble-hearted masses and our kids really didn't get much for Christmas. One thing for each kid and Santa came for Avery. Boo-hoo, bah-hum-bug, ye ol' tight-wad. You might think that this was a relief from the hustle n' bustle of crowded malls and overpriced shipping fees, but actually it wasn't. I knew our kids would only play with their plastic vacuum pluggers for two seconds before jumping Dad...he is the best toy anyway. Also, we have to cart it all back to Washington. That will result in luggage with split seams, bulging sharp corners and the odd sock hanging out. And now that the candy cane's been eaten, I see how very wise Santa was to keep the quantities of benevolence to a teeny-tiny pile. HOWEVER, all my anti-materialism, unexpectedly, kind of took away from my pre-Christmas cheer. I found that an interesting result. Not to mention Avery was a little bit miffed. Frankly, she felt the magic of Christmas morning was only saved by the graces of grandparents.
My kids are loving all the snowy weather. They are loving all the cousins and grandparents (on both sides). They are not sleeping at all and this makes us delightful guests for every home we've invaded. Sean's parents have opened up their house to us and have locked themselves in a basement bedroom until we leave. This is great as I get to use their master bedroom and it has a gorgeous view of the mountains. I think we've only offended one ----- (remember no details) and only sworn off relations with ----------- so all in all we're doing really good I think. Sadly, we're only here for another week and a half, it will be hard to damage too many more family ties in that amount of time. But my kids are pretty clever, so we'll see won't we?
Since people tout the importance of playing down a secular Christmas I capitulated to the humble-hearted masses and our kids really didn't get much for Christmas. One thing for each kid and Santa came for Avery. Boo-hoo, bah-hum-bug, ye ol' tight-wad. You might think that this was a relief from the hustle n' bustle of crowded malls and overpriced shipping fees, but actually it wasn't. I knew our kids would only play with their plastic vacuum pluggers for two seconds before jumping Dad...he is the best toy anyway. Also, we have to cart it all back to Washington. That will result in luggage with split seams, bulging sharp corners and the odd sock hanging out. And now that the candy cane's been eaten, I see how very wise Santa was to keep the quantities of benevolence to a teeny-tiny pile. HOWEVER, all my anti-materialism, unexpectedly, kind of took away from my pre-Christmas cheer. I found that an interesting result. Not to mention Avery was a little bit miffed. Frankly, she felt the magic of Christmas morning was only saved by the graces of grandparents. 