What I Learned from Christmas

This was supposed to be the best Christmas ever. It wasn't. There were lots of things that happened bringing tears and frustration throughout the day. I won't say Christmas was horrible, but I will say it didn't go the way any of us thought and that made us all a little sad. Here are the things I learned:

• Illness is inevitable in our family during the holidays

It started the morning of Christmas Eve. I woke up to one of the girls throwing up. She has been battling a cold and made herself sick from her continuous coughing. Fortunately, she was better almost immediately. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for me. I woke up Christmas morning raring to go. Soon after the gifts had been opened and the cinnamon rolls devoured, I started feeling cold. Eventually I was freezing. I was so chilled that even sitting in the sun wrapped in my Snuggie wasn't helping. Soon, my stomach started churning. By the time my in-laws showed up to give the girls their gifts and eat lunch, I was ready to retreat to my bed. A few hours later, I started feeling a tad better and we managed to spend the night playing all our new games. (This, of course, caused huge drama with a relative who invited us over to dinner at the last minute and was beyond angry that Hubby refused to go. He didn't think it was appropriate to leave me alone on Christmas and I'm grateful that he stuck to his guns).

• My closet is not a good hiding spot for gifts

My girls aren't old enough to know gifts are hiding somewhere in our house. My closet seemed like a good spot.... until the night I wanted to wrap presents. I had to walk by each of their rooms with the gifts, so Hubby and I had to wait until they were sound asleep. Next year, the gifts will be stored in the basement!

• Bike helmets should be bought sooner, rather than later

The big gift this year was big girl bikes. They were a hit. Somehow we avoided a white Christmas and instead had a 50 degree Christmas... perfect for testing out the new bikes. I couldn't buy helmets before Christmas without giving away the surprise (I need the girls with me to make sure the helmets fit), but after Cakes took four spills yesterday, I've decided we'll be going to the store in the next few days for helmets.

• You need to go with the flow

Yes, there were some disappointments, namely the illness and drama, but overall we still had a good Christmas. Things didn't go as planned/hoped, but we were all together, we're all healthy (well, we are now) and we managed to share more laughs than tears. Months from now when I look back at this Christmas, I won't look back at the drama. I'll look back at the smiles and excitement as my girls figured out how to maneuver their new bikes. I'll look back at their delight realizing the game Pretty Pretty Princess involves wearing tons of jewelry. I'll look back at the fact that all six of us found a way to salvage a day that could have been a disaster.