Saturday Morning Dispatch No.4
I went to Trader Joe’s this week, which I only do about twice a year because it is not even a little bit convenient to my house, and I stocked up on cheese and chocolate-covered peppermint Joe Joe’s*, and now I feel ready to do Christmas.
Lumpy stockings for the win (2017)
*If you don’t know what these are, they’re like Oreos and Thin Mints had a baby but better. Stuff one in a stocking and you’re ¾ of the way to done.
Let the sensory overload begin!
The December tsunami has hit our home. Let’s take some inventory:
➵ The tree is in, which means there’s an extension cord running through the front of our house; garlands that weren’t put away properly last year take up half the dining room table in an unholy snarl waiting to be dealt with; and one of the cats is alternating between shredding the tree skirt and laying waste to my ornament collection.
➵ We are now getting daily visits from the mail lady, UPS, FedEx, and the Prime truck. Maybe twice-daily? Even DHL has gotten in on the action. SO. MANY. BOXES. Which are of course full of packing materials that my kids want to play with and gifts that they’ll open on Christmas and I’ll wonder why I didn’t just wrap the packing materials. One of these packages contained chocolate advent calendars from Mimi to my girls because she loves them more than she loves me and it’s her grandmotherly prerogative to give my kids chocolate first thing in the morning.
➵ Conveniently, this is also the time of year when we have to pull out the bins of winter clothes and figure out what fits whom, which mittens are missing a mate, and who needs a new pair of boots. Sweaters and hats are constantly in the way except when it’s time for school and they’re no where to be found. The grown-ups start wondering if they can afford a professional organizer. And a governess.
Christmas tree netting as fashion statement.
If you celebrate a holiday and live in America, I’m sure I needn’t go on. I’m guessing you have two school concerts and at least one party to attend or host in the next week and a half, among other things. Maybe you almost lost your sh*t trying to get this f***ing Sonos to sync with my phone so I can set a Christmas mood with the angelic voices of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 😳
And maybe your kids are having extra meltdowns, too. Because if you’re experiencing overwhelm and complete sensory overload, imagine what it’s like for them! May I direct you to this piece from Melinda Wenner Moyer: Six Reasons Why Kids Are A**holes in December? She gives you the six reasons, plus four strategies for handling it, and it was just what I needed to read this week.
Did you catch this month’s Discovery & Play Guide? It’s all about Gingerbread!
5 Christmas books to read together.
Despite everything I just said about the meltdowns, I love Christmas. It is hands down my favorite time of year. Setting up my granny’s crêche and baking Viennese crescents and driving around to see who’s doing the best job of emulating Clark Griswold this year; the music and candles and the smell of our Christmas tree when we first bring it inside; picking up my mom and my sister from the airport and watching Christmas movies together and fighting over who gets the last P-Nut Crunch from the box of See’s Candy. The Christmas magic is so very real to me and I look forward to it all year long
One of my favorite, favorite things is bringing out our box of Christmas books. I adore children’s books, so I’d happily read most of them by myself, but thankfully I share my life with three small humans who will usually let me read to them. Someday I’ll make a comprehensive list of all the best Christmas books (totally objective of course), with extensive notes, but for now, here are five that my family loves that we think you might love, too:
Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Holly Hobbie
Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones
An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco
The Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson
Morris’s Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells
Fort Bramble Discovery & Play Guides are a great gift for anyone with young kids in their life, especially anyone who doesn’t need more stuff.
If you give a mouse a glue gun.
Remember those pine cones we painted a few weeks ago? My youngest has been talking about wanting to turn them into ornaments, which is a great idea, and we are definitely going to do that as soon as I remember where I put the hot glue gun.
Have you seen this bit from Seth Meyers about the third child?
Right.
I was at my computer for, well, long enough apparently, and when I went downstairs I found that my four-year-old friend (third child) had: cut 6 or 7 pieces of yarn exactly the right length, found the hot glue gun, plugged it in, glued the yarn to the pine cones, then unplugged the glue gun and put it away. Which tells me next year she’ll be ready to make some of these:
Pine cone Santas inspired by a craft project from 1868 that also appeared in a Time-Life Christmas publication in 1987. Pine cone Santas are forever!
Are you a Christmas crafter? We do simple things like paper snowflakes and orange clove pomanders, sometimes cinnamon or salt dough ornaments, and my wonderful husband makes paper garlands with our girls every year, but that’s about the extent of our holiday crafting. I mostly like to make things I can eat.
Quote of the Day
“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” —Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home (1987)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go finish getting ready for this party I’m hosting, just as soon as I figure out that motherloving Sonos.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love, Kathryn