Friday, December 19, 2014

7 Quick Takes about Holiday Meltdowns, A Desperate Plea for Distractions, and Owning a Flatbed Truck for the Day

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday!

1


Almost. I almost made it through the Christmas season without having the nervous breakdown I have every year. I cut corners, I tried to simplify, but it happened anyway.

Making cookie plates for our neighbors stresses me out? Poof, we're not doing it this year.

Too many sibling-to-sibling gifts that end up being extra work for mom? Forget it, this year the kids' only gift to each other is love.

By doing these things, I staved off a holiday breakdown until December 13th, a new record for me. I was really hoping that this would be the year I could avoid it altogether, but I guess it wasn't in the cards.

2


On the day of said breakdown, my 6-year-old said to me, "Mom, do you know why I'm being nice to you?"

"Why?" I asked.

"So you'll be nice to me."

"Is it working?"

"Not really."

Whoever's in charge of handing out the Parenting Awards, I'm ready for mine.

3


What's mostly responsible for my stress is that we're planning for a 22-hour (one way) family road trip that's looming on the horizon. 

Really, it won't be so bad. All we have to do is stuff 5 kids including a 10-month-old baby into a minivan and keep them entertained for 11 hours a day (plus stops) for 2 days until we get there. And then do it all again on the way home.

Wow, when I say it out loud it doesn't seem like such a big deal.

4


Just kidding. We are crazy. What were we thinking?

Give me all of your good car games and ideas for kids on long trips. Benadryl doesn't count.

5


Stress sends me to a strange fourth dimension where I can see everything extremely clearly (all the messes, the unfinished projects, and every single thing I've been meaning to do for the last 10 years,) yet I can't distinguish between things that are important right now and things that aren't. My primal response to being stressed is to HURRY UP AND DO ALL THE THINGS.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Just an illustration, but the frenzied bug eyes are eerily accurate.

What that means is this: I made a list of the stuff I need to do before we leave, went insane (see Fig. 1 above,) put the list aside, and ended up giving all five of my children haircuts and yelling at Phillip for not finishing the basement.

6


Turns out that living near power lines has its perks. Vegetation Control Services came to prune any tree branches less than 18 feet from the wires, and didn't finish before the end of the day. So they asked if they could leave their truck until morning.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

Are you kidding me? Anyone with a 10-foot tall flatbed diesel truck with a cherry picker next to their house is a celebrity as far as my kids and all their friends from the bus stop on the corner are concerned.

For the rest of the day, I could hear whoops and screams from inside the house whenever a new wave of kids got off the bus.

7


Merry Christmas, everyone! This might be one of my very favorite covers with a fantastic Christmas message.



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2 comments:

O'Babies said...

#5- This is how I OFTEN feel but have never had the eloquence to put into words. You get me Jenny. You get me. ~Mandy

B B Snaps said...

Side note to this video. I have a high school friend. Eric(we both played tuba in band together). He is a minister now for his church...the boys performing in this video are his churches "worship band". My friend Eric and his wife are sitting in the cafe during the video(ing) of this song. Minute 4:20 ish. Small world