I Survived!

My personal 2007 resolution was to "Not Let December Kick My Tookus" -- and I did it! I started Christmas & birthday shopping in August; when I saw something that would be perfect for someone -- I bought it. By the time December 1st rolled around I had all of my shopping done. We got an early jump on the lights, tree, & decorations, and that gave us time to enjoy the season. The Christmas CDs went into the CD player on the day after (US) Thanksgiving. That got me into the spirit. I made my one and only trip with presents to the post office during the first week of December. The Christmas card photos of the girls were a bit stressful, but hey, you can only work with what you've got (and I've got alot of photos of the inside of Jordan's mouth since she can't hold her head forward at all, and pushes back when you try to do it for her). But, we persevered, and managed to get them into the mail during the second week of December.

As for the holidays & birthdays themselves, we focused on "being" rather than "doing." No rigid meals and traditions we had to get just right. Almost no scheduled activities, and no rushing around to be place after place. Ironically, this is the tradition we want to create for our family -- just being with our family & friends and letting the days unfold as they may (even if it happens to include tiling the basement floor, as it did this year -- you can get a great deal on renting a tile cutter on holidays).

The moral of the story: Plan, Pace, and Relax! That's how to get through December with your tookus intact. Wow, can you believe I said that?!