Holiday Rollercoaster

Hang on to your hats people, we're about to be flung at top speed and out of control into the holidays.

It's not like I didn't see them coming. They happen the same time every year. And every year I start Christmas shopping in August (July this year even!) and still I feel the panic at the thought that Christmas is only a month away. Yes, I am about to be flung into unorganized oblivion.

My job:

I have to make it fun and magical for everyone.

Even the elf.

I have to appear to be relaxed and in control, as if everything that happens went exactly as I planned it, from today through New Years Day. That includes food, travel, baking, gifts for others at home and in faraway places, and especially teaching and feeling the true meaning of the holidays.

How did I ever get hired for this job?

I want to be a kid again, to believe in the magic of the season, that for some reason, crawled like an inchworm through each day, building my anticipation, grating my nerves through what felt like months of school, waiting, until finally, through the longest of nights, as snow flutters from the magical sky it dawned: Christmas Morning. We sat in awe on the steps gawking at the tree, twinkling in the magical moon glow of 4 am, dazzled by the beautiful presents underneath, all just for me (well, and my sister and brother too).

That two hour wait in front of the tree until my parents woke up seems longer to me now than the month I have to do everything I must do to make the holidays special for my family.

The hardest part is being the one creating that magic. It seems to grow every year, and become more and more complicated. Like a new magic trick, I am expected to peform to perfection, I'm trying to wrap my mind around how to pull it off without anyone guessing how. And my thoughts keep going up and down, around and around on that roller coaster, hoping to latch on to enough ideas and snatch enough time to get it all done.

Do you think Crumpet, our Elf On The Shelf, will help out?

Not.

Pesky little runt. He doesn't make a move without me.

No More Butt Paste Lipstick

Bye bye Butt Paste.

And diapers.

And diaper rash.

And diaper washing (yes, I used cloth diapers, though mostly hybrids this time).

Yay me! and especially yay Evie for our third successful week of staying dry, both day and night. We celebrated that milestone with her first pack of "big girl" panties, in a character of her choice: My Little Pony. It is the cutest thing to see her little bottom in those panties, though I still absolutely love both their little bums in the Gerber training pants. There really is nothing cuter than a toddler bum in padded panties. Especially one that is poopy-free.

She's still announcing when she has to go, and still needs help sometimes, but I'm so proud of her for getting it, and sticking with it, at the grocery store, the mall, even at birthday parties. The funny thing is, she was dry at night for a few months before I realized that I need to actually get on the ball and potty train during the day. Call it a lazy moment for Mommy, but after the pressure to get Maisey trained by 2 years old (thanks Mom!), and having that backfire in my face, I decided not to worry about it.

Now I have to instill the hygenic need to change those panties each and every day. She's on Day Three of wearing Princess Celestia, and she refuses to take them off. Except when she has to use the potty.