So perhaps you are wondering why, for the second time this year, we found ourselves with our two littles in a grocery cart, purchasing a holiday tradition from a supermarket (the first being our halloween pumpkins and now our christmas trees).
Maybe you think it's because we are cheap. Or that we're pressed for time. Or simply because it's easier.
And partly you would be right. But that's just a little piece of the Christmas pie. Let me explain.
Let me tell you how simply wonderful and stress free our Christmas tree hunt went. We went in our local supermarket, placed an order for a pizza to go, stuck the kids in a cart, and picked out a tree in front of the store.
Haden was ecstatic.
We walked inside and I let him slide my debit card and hit a few buttons to pay for our tree.
Again, ecstatic.
We wandered through the store as we waited for our pizza, and he pointed to each oyster tank and asked "what's that?" and giggled at the crabs.
I bet you can guess how he felt.
Ecstatic.
It was simple and it was perfect and it was everything Kellen and I needed to see the little joys in his face.
There is nothing worse in my mind than the stress I create in my own self by pushing a toddler and his little sister into doing something that I feel we must do because it is expected.
Who says traditions have to fit in a pretty white box? Sometimes the best memories are on a whim- they might look messy or easy or short, unplanned or funny or crazy or maybe they don't happen at all and something else, something incredibly more simple takes their place.
THAT'S OK.
Someone out there in blogland gave me permission to stop this year. They looked me straight in the eyes (through a computer screen of course) pointed in my face and said...
"Hey YOU! Pinning away on your pinterest board and stressing yourself out about being everything and doing everything and crafting and cooking and baking and adventuring. Teaching your kid about the magic of Santa and feeling guilty he doesn't know what a manger is. Having the perfect picture of the most picturesque scenes as you try to pretend your toddler isn't melting down and that your baby has any idea of what's going and really you're just faking it. Worrying about missing that tradition this year that you want them to remember. Here is my permission to you to STOP. "
And boy did I need to hear that.
I let go. I plopped my kids in a grocery cart. I put away my camera and pulled out my iphone. I embraced the imperfect and I just was.
And it was perfect in it's imperfections.
Dear mommy friends, if you're looking, you have my permission to do that too. You're welcome.
The blog post that inspired this post:
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