Holiday round-up

The Clappers came for Thanksgiving...

And the Texas Rausers came for early Christmas...

And the then Pennsylvania Rauser-Clappers had a quiet and relaxing holiday. Wait-- who am I kidding?!?! There're a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old residing here. Christmas was a high-stakes affair. Henry in particular seemed consumed with anxiety for much of December, with a quite-visible internal struggle alternately to express and to master his strong desires for stuff. I decorated our stairwell with garland and dangling Advent presents on little ribbons. It was so pretty, but I'm not sure if it added any daily joy or wonder to our household. As Michael put it: "Advent presents: Something to fight about every SINGLE day." On Christmas Eve, Henry rehearsed how it would go the next morning: he'd stay in bed till 6 am, then come into bed with Mom and Dad, and wait till Agatha woke up, then we'd open our stocking presents, then we'd have oatmeal and "do our morning routine," then we could open one gift every hour till they were gone. This idea was another of his strategies to demonstrate his control over this crazy holiday, when all normal rules seem to be suspended. (We didn't, of course, do this; we opened all our presents right away like normal people.)

We did have a very nice holiday, season, though, high-strung children's occasional tantrums aside. We had many lovely invitations to parties and dinners with friends. We got beautiful, thoughtful gifts in the mail from Tim & Kirsti, Grace & Jim, and our dear friends Eric & Meg. On Christmas Eve, I made a special midday meal of chicken, sweet potatoes, and this amazing French pastry (the Paris-Brest!), and then in the evening we had pate and cheese at Mom's house by the fire. On Christmas Day we ate turkey and stuffing at Mom's house. We did LOTS of crafting, including a whole village of five gingerbread houses. (Then at a family New Year's Eve party last night, the hosts gifted us with MORE gingerbread house kits! I think seven houses is enough for one season, don't you? I have gotten pretty good with the pastry bag, though.)

Quiet wonder and peaceful reflection are not the way to celebrate Christmas with little children. But as I said to Michael on Christmas Eve, after we'd tucked in the kids and I'd stuffed their stockings and put Agatha's new scooter under the tree: truly, happiness is being the parent of a 6 year old and a 3 year old on Christmas Eve. It is a great joy to provide for them, to create sparks of amazement and pleasure, to feed their imaginations and cause them to think about hope, surprise, and light amid the darkness. We are so greatly blessed to have one another, and we celebrated that these past few weeks, as we try to every day.