Hi Friend. Christmas is a lot. Especially for moms.
Santa’s trip around the world gets fairytale status, but Mom-life? That’s just expected.
Think for one second about what moms do this season:
Shop, clean, wash, plan,
bake, cook, dress, schedule,
sooth, decorate, scrub, kiss,
cuddle, rinse, tidy, prepare,
help, teach, train, train some more,
zoom, console, communicate, love,
wrap, organize, sterilize, systematize, for everyone in the whole house, every day- often all at the same time… sit down Santa!!
If you’re a mom: WOW - you’re amazing!
If you’re not a mom: Go THANK one :)
With the crazy whirlwind of farming and mom-life, I’ve been *unsuccessfully* trying to slow this season ever since the big push to get the silo done for the Kefir Class.
Which leads me to wonder...
It is POSSIBLE to slow the season so it’s not just a blur?
I think it is... but it's not what you think... and it has everything to do with 9 months at this fence line:
Ever feel like Christmas can be lost in the blur and then it’s over before your brain is ready to start it? Me too.
I often feel like I have to get ALLLL the things done in order to enjoy Christmas.
I jot down a mile-long to-do list and then proceed to run around like a chicken who really would like her head back.
The trouble is, the to-do list in my life doesn’t seem to have an end. There’s ALWAYS something more to be added to the bottom.. Again.. And again.. And again…
Maybe you feel the same way.
Moms are masters of the multi-task, but it makes for a muddy mind.
I was planning for a simpler Covid Christmas, but now it just feels like extra with sending gifts and zoom family meetings and all the things that aren’t part of my normal routine.
Last Monday, I was given the greatest gift of halted time. Not because I conquered my to-do list. Exactly the opposite.
Time froze, by giving it away.
Let me explain.
We have some very dear neighbor friends whose field shares a fence line with ours. For the last 9 months, my girls and the neighbor have been exchanging notes and treasures via an old clothes pin on the fence. Every few days, I’ll get the squeal-inducing call…“there’s something at the fence”. These calls are always followed by girly screaming and jumping like you wouldn’t believe (from my girls of course…) ( …. and from me on the inside a little). Who doesn’t want a special note on the fence line?! That only happens in books!
Last week, the fence line treasure was not just a note, or a trinket, or a ribbon, but an invitation! Thus far, all our neighbor adventures stopped just there - at the fence. But this invitation called us beyond… with the promise of private chauffeured chariot (er…. ranger) escort.
When the day and time drew near, we headed to our side of the fence in anticipation of our chariot ride. Fits of nervous giggles and spurts of sprinting ensued as our chauffeur appeared far off on the sky line of the neighbor’s field.
In mere moments- we were greeted with a warm neighborly smile framed in rosy cold cheeks and offered blankets for our trip across the field.
The girls excitedly mounted their chariot and off we went - across the frozen ‘tundra’.
At this point in the story, I have to ask:
Do you know Mrs. Pots from the Beauty and the Beast cartoon? She’s the tea pot. She’s lovely and dear and warm and kind. Her voice feels like a hug and her smile makes you feel like you’re important. She knows just what you need before you need it and her mere presence feels like home. She’s the perfect hostess- always anticipating your feelings and never making you feel uncomfortable.
Well- there’s no two ways to say this:
My neighbor lady is the real Mrs. Pots. Everything dear about that the cartoon character that I wished was real as a kid is real and living in my neighbor!
As our chariot approached the cozy house, the door flung open and we were greeted with the kindest voice set with the biggest smile and the warmest hugs.
To say we had a comfortable time is an understatement. We spent the next two hours hunting for Christmas trees (one in every room to be exact), crafting, decorating for Christmas, sipping hot cocoa and chatting.
Was this visit helping check off things on my to do list? Nope. But guess what?
I NEEDED that visit. It’s like the clock stopped- just for a few hours and I drank of actual Christmas cheer.
We think multitasking is the answer to the season’s busyness but I think it may be the destroyer. It’s too easy to miss today in the blur.
So when the neighbor puts a pile of ribbon and craft supplies in front of you and you have no where else to go, it is a beautiful thing! I literally had nothing else to do but twirl ribbon in my fingers and chat while the girls crafted.
Those two beautiful hours felt like an entire afternoon as I savored each moment.
You know what the coolest part of giving your time away is? You can actually benefit someone else!! My neighbors kept exclaiming about how fun this was for THEM to have the girls over…. little did they know that I needed the Christmas pause!
All that is to say… if you’re drowning in to dos…. or even drowning in worries or Covid Christmas… maybe the answer is giving your time away.
Who could you visit with a Christmas carol?
Who could you ding-dong dash with a Christmas treat?
Where could you help someone?
How could you make someone smile?
Where could you pause the multitask by giving it up?
Where could you act out the nativity for a lonely old person?
Where could you be jolly?
How could you make someone else’s’ day?
Pick something and share it with me! I’d love to know what you do!
Don’t let the muddy multitask wreck this special season!!
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Ready for some fresh milk?? Yes Please!