I used to be one of THOSE people. I was all about the perfect Christmas no matter the stress it caused. You know the ones who wanted the house perfect for Christmas. Gifts were wrapped oh so pretty with neat little tags on them in our best handwriting. Cookies were plenty and of course different varieties. The egg nog was perfectly spiked and the children look oh so cute in their Christmas finest. And of course, I enjoyed none of it because I was behind a camera trying to capture every single moment.
Being a blogger intensified it. I had to have the perfect pictures to share on the site and across social media. The perfect turkey and cookies for that perfect Pinterest post to bring all the traffic in. The perfect tree to do a how-to post on how to have the perfect tree. Well, guess what, I am not perfect and I bet any money neither are you. No more aiming for perfection for this mom/blogger.
This Christmas my youngest was sick and up most the night with croup. My husband was sick. My step-father was sick and couldn’t make it. My father and step-mother yet again did not come for Christmas. My mother in law couldn’t make it until Boxing Day.My house was not cleaned top to bottom and at the very last minute, we threw cookie dough on a cookie sheet to make cookies for Santa. Christmas is over and my house now looks like this.
The only pictures I got were the 4 Generations picture I shared yesterday and a picture of the kids in their Christmas pj’s on Christmas eve acting like fools. But guess what, it was still the perfect Christmas. Why? Because I do not care about what didn’t happen and who didn’t come. I don’t need those picture I didn’t take, those moments are frozen in my mind. My children had smiles on their faces. Had a delicious turkey dinner that they got to enjoy in front of the TV and we were together as a family.
That is what Christmas is about. FAMILY! You, your spouse and your kids. Everyone else is just a bonus. The fanciness is not needed. My children will remember time spent with mom and dad, not mom stressing out because ornaments are not perfectly placed.
This is real life. This is whatI plan to share going forward in the new year with the blog. I hope you will take the trip with me and enjoy our real lives and real moments without the realness tucked away for you not to see. No Christmas is perfect, no family is perfect and no person is perfect but we are all perfect in our own way. Perfection is like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder.