Bet You Didn't Eat McDonald's for Christmas Dinner

Well, we didn't either but it wasn't for lack of trying!!

 I was kind of desperate for that week before Christmas to end and not just because I was so ready for Christmas-because I wasn't! Ready, that is.  It was a rough mix of not enough sleep, sinus infection and lots to do (as previously mentioned and recorded).  I really wanted snow days to start our vacation time early just so I wouldn't have to drive Noah to school in the morning.  It really seemed if I could just drop that one duty my whole load would lighten!  I don't know how that would be true since it was the easiest and quickest part of my morning that week, but so it seemed at the time.

But never fear, I found my Christmas spirit over the weekend and in good time for the end of our Christmas count down paper chain.

Christmas Eve we cleaned and got ready for any nocturnal wanderings that might occur.  We had an early dinner and then read and acted out the story of Jesus' birth.  Sage made a sweet Mary, Ian was convincing as Joseph and a wise man, while Noah was a faithful shepherd and weary wise man too.

We found a new tradition for our time here in Milwaukee: Candy Cane Lane.  Nearby, over a several square block area the homes are lavishly decorated with lights, lawn ornaments, and music.  And lavish does not mean tasteful...more like...really bright!  The line of cars was long and slow up and down the streets that we merrily walked, enjoying the various displays of Christmas spirit.

  (And not so merrily.  Noah told us repeatedly "This is not very interesting.  This is boring!")  Then it was off to enjoy some hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows. HmmMmmm!

We got the kiddies off to bed and watched a movie to be sure that they were really asleep before doing the elfish deeds of the evening: a little more wrapping and stocking stuffing!

We put our morning plan into action when the boys woke up at 5:20 and wanted to dig right in to the presents under the tree.

Wait until 7:00. (We decided that was as early as we were willing to wake up Sage and that yes, she was old enough to feel left out if we started without her.)

When they came back at 6 something we enforced our plan.

Wait until 7:00.

Finally, it was 7:00 and we woke up Sage and headed down to find our gifts under the tree.

Christmas (and birthdays to a slightly lesser extent) is actually kind of stressful for me all leading up to the actual day.  I worry and stress and strain for weeks leading up to Christmas, trying to find exactly what my kids have asked for that fits in our budget and will still help deliver the magic of the holiday. Now, I don't know about other kids but expectation is everything to ours.  The boys make a Christmas list at my request (how else would I ever have even a chance of getting it right?) and it is usually short and sweet and specific. Christmas morning hangs by that thread of specificity.  Unrequested items or the wrong thing would send us falling into a pit of disappointment and gloom. 

I could take a hard line and when Christmas morning came and they opened their gifts and were disappointed tell them "you get what you get and you are happy with it!" But I love them and respect the many facets of their personalities. I want them to be happy.  I draw a hard line about other things but gifts (for Christmas or birthdays) is something that they get just for themselves.  All house rules of sharing don't apply for at least a month! They only ever get a few and I want them to be just right.

So we wait with bated breath right up till the moment they open their presents and we can see their reaction.  This year I didn't try to record it with pictures but I can report there were many happy yells and lots of jumping around! Success!    

We spent a pleasant morning making legos and playing with our new toys.  Then we packed hurriedly, while Sage was napping, for a short trip to the Dells.

(The boys really wanted to travel this year.  TN or TX or NC.  Chris and I were adamant that we didn't want to travel and especially not that far.  We compromised and planned an overnight trip to the Dells. Due to procrastination, the dates I had originally planned jumped in price by $150 so we went Christmas Day ate dinner, swam, spent the night, swam in the morning and got home just in time for Sage's nap.

I didn't take a single picture the whole time.  Sad. But we had a good time and went to two different indoor water parks.  We went down slides and floated on the lazy river.  Noah jumped right into things and had a blast while Ian and Sage took some time to warm up to things before finding somethings that they really enjoyed too.)

But we got on the road and knew we would get there right about dinner.  Chris and I are not really big on Christmas dinner so not being home for it was not a big deal to either of us.  And while I would have preferred something other than McDonald's, we knew it would be a big deal to kids to get Happy Meals.

We tried two McDonald's at two different exits and passed a third on the way to our resort and they were all closed!! On the one hand I thought "Yay, McDonald's! Way to treat your employees!"  And on the other I thought "Gosh darn it!  I just want some dinner for my kids!"

So we had Dominos instead.