Welp, I Broke Again

 Before I start anything about this week, I need to record our November bulletin boards because I've already begun to change them for December.

(Mister Man took the pictures for me.)

And back to the story of how I broke again:

I was organizing a Christmas activity--our annual "lighting ceremony"--and the kids were fighting every step of the way.

I'd been seeing memes and reels about simplifying the holidays.

All I wanted to do was ooh and aah over Christmas lights and drink hot chocolate with my family..

We already have such simple traditions--only 4, and we say no to everything else.

But even as I tried to get the hot chocolate started, and after Sir Walter Scott had worked for hours in the cold setting up the lights, the kids were high as kites, arguing, ignoring me, talking back, and generally being as unpleasant as children can be.

I gave myself a couple of time-outs and some rather severe talking-tos about children, expectations, and reality.

But I broke anyway.

We limped through the evening, and the lighting ceremony did finally end up being fun.

I told Sir Walter Scott that I refuse to cry my way through the entire month.

It's bad for me, bad for the season, and bad for the whole family.

I tried to dump decorating the tree as a family (I thought it would be easier and kind of fun to stay up late one night and surprise the kids with a decorated tree when they woke up.), but that was vetoed by Little Princess and Nature Angel.  They're the ones most vested in the long-time family traditions, and they would be the most affected by the simplifications I dreamed of.

So, we are decorating the tree this evening as a family . . . but we're not having candy canes as a treat afterward.

We're also not decorating gingerbread (graham cracker) houses at all.  I've had a love/hate relationship with that tradition for years.  

Too. Much. Candy.

I have a literature-based Christmas School planned for the next three weeks, and I was not planning to wrap 24 books to open one per day, but the kids asked and almost cried when I said we'd have lots of good books, just not wrapped.

However, they haven't noticed, and it's the 3rd of December, so I think they're pretty distracted by all of the reading we have been doing.

We started The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

We started this book that we're reading together at dinner each evening.

It's simple and lovely.

We've already read through this little novel/long picture book (courtesy of Internet Archive).

And we've started this one (also on Internet Archive).

The other day, during lunch, I opened up the audio-recording of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus that is available at Libraries of Hope.  We listened to four chapters while we ate, and the kids were disappointed when I turned it off because everyone was done eating.

Why?  Why don't I accept that we are a reading family?  Or at least that I am a reading mother?

Why do I insist upon doing stressful activities instead of just being happy with reading?

I ask that when I have activities planned for the next 15 school days!!!! 

But, in my defense, I've already simplified a few, and I'm not going to do much (if any) of the baking with all of the kids.  Some days there will simply be a treat already ready to eat while they listen to me read.

And that's all of the holiday complaining for this post.

In other news, the past week included 

*5 Morning Meetings

*4 days of math

*4 days of bin school

*4 days of grammar and history with the teens

*2 completed essays (the teens had to write an essay from an outline)

*2 hilarious hours of kids playing charades together

*1 passed drill test which means Little Princess is promoting next week!

*1 field trip to The Nativity Puppets

*1 field trip to see a friend competing in a gymnastics meet

*5 garbage bags of decluttered stuff from our home taken to a donation center!!!

*3 seasons of The Chosen completed as a family for the second time (completed, not watched at once, this week)

*1 3/4 walls painted in my bedroom

*19 freezer meals for 12 prepared and frozen

She's just so cute when she's focused that I find myself capturing the moment.

That evening of charades healed my spirit so, so much!  It was the absolute complete opposite of how the previous evening had gone.  I made homemade pizzas for dinner and helped when kids got stuck.  The house rang with laughter for 2 straight hours.

I got out beans for the littles, and they enjoyed them for a little while, but my kids really played with them!  Lola made "cookies" that she "baked" under the ottoman. :)

If we did nothing else to celebrate Christmas, I would want it to be seeing The Nativity Puppets.

I was not torturing Sugar Bear by holding her near the sheep.  She high-fived 4 of those sheep before the show began, and she cried when they left the scene.  I was trying to let her have more fun!
But it backfired. :)

Beowulf and several other of our kids got to operate the donkey's mouth.

The morning started badly because Brother took offense at being hurried so that we could get out the door.  It's a long story, but as you can see in the pictures, it all worked out (in the nick of time), and we had a wonderful experience.

We were happy to support our little friend (on the mat), but attending that meet made me so glad that we aren't a gymnastics family!!

Once the tree is up tonight, we aren't doing anything else but reading and Christmas School for the next 3 weeks.  

That is said with the following disclaimers:

1.  Ladybug, Brother, and Beowulf asked to sing in our church choir, so they are attending rehearsals on Sunday afternoons and singing in church for the next few weeks.  But I don't have to do anything but have dinner ready when they get home after practice and tell them how wonderful they are, so it doesn't count.

2.  There is a church party this Friday night.  I am not committed to going--it will depend on how the day goes.  Knowing I have the freedom to not attend if we have a hard day is an important out.

3.  We entered birthday season a week or so ago.  I am committed to celebrating birthdays, but the only party I was obligated to throw this year has already happened (and it was fun and low-key).  I am grateful that Little Princess took over cake-baking-and-decorating duties some time ago.  As long as I remember to have enough candles on hand, we're good to go.

Let the season begin!

(And please, please let me be a joyful mother and celebrator!)