BEST Christmas Eve Ever!

I should be sleeping, but the gallon of coffee I consumed from 8p-12a hasn't totally worn off yet. Gifts are wrapped and under the tree, stockings are stuffed and visions of sugar plums are dancing in the heads of my babies. It is QUIET, and that gives me some time to reflect and think. And drink some decaffeinated coffee ;)

Today was the BEST Christmas Eve I remember for many, many years. And I know exactly why. I let go of every expectation and "normal" tradition related to the day and evening before Christmas.

Itchy, matching, expensive clothes worn for a photo session that leaves me aggravated and the kids even more aggravated were skipped - it was a PJ day here for most. The huge feast that I cook and clean up, after rounds of "do I HAVE to eat that?" was traded in for pizza night, which elicited no complaints and far less dishes. We had each other for company, and that was plenty, especially for the ones who had their engines running at supersonic all day.

Guess how many Christmas cards I sent out this year? ZERO! To be perfectly honest, I'd rather tell you Merry Christmas via the internet or face to face than sign, address and pay postage for cards. One less thing to do this season lessens the stress and frees up time for other things, like writing a blog post!

The one tradition we held was letting the Crew open their gift from us this evening. Years ago, we instituted the Christmas Wishes Rule: one gift from Mom and Dad and three gifts from Santa. If your list has a high ticket item, like an iPod Touch, you get one gift from Santa. I took this gem from a friend during my oldest's preschool years: "If three gifts were enough for the Man who saved your soul, it's plenty for you." There's no surprises Christmas morning - what you asked for is what you get. In our house, eliminating surprises is a very good thing!

I spent a lot of years stressing and jam packing "fun" activities into Christmas Eve because I was worried I wasn't creating wonderful Christmas memories for my children to look back on as adults. But you know what? I'm betting they will remember the year Mom wasn't cajoling, bribing and finally demanding that everyone look happy and at the camera for just two minutes. They're going to remember lounging in pajamas, with no scratchy tags, no too hot sweaters and no rushing out the door to get somewhere. They will remember that Christmas is about Jesus' birthday, not about the number of gifts you receive. They will remember being allowed to watch Christmas specials and play video games while eating pizza. I think they will remember this as the BEST Christmas Eve ever.