Wow. So I have to share. This Thanksgiving Weekend was so surprisingly wonderful that I literally did not post anything and simply immersed in my family.
Absolute heaven.
But that’s not the actual point that I want to share.
The whole weekend my kids kept saying, “This is such a great Thanksgiving weekend,” that it finally made me PAUSE and think, Why is that? And, how can we replicate it for Christmas????
As I thought, to my shock nothing shazammy happened.
But this is what did.
#1. We were open to spontaneity. I use the word “open” loosely, however. Like when my daughter wanted to work out…ON THANKSGIVING DAY. And my turkey-coma self was like, Can we not? But wanting to connect in a way that mattered to her, we went to the gym.
AND IT WAS FABULOUS!!! My little guy on the treadmill next to me, all of us sweating, laughing, and working off of the pumpkin pie.
Or when this same daughter wanted to decorate the house for Christmas THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING. And we were all like, Can we not? But we did.
And you know what? IT WAS FABULOUS! We put on Christmas music–singing, laughing, and reminiscing about ornaments and old decorations.
#2. We struck a beautiful balance. Amazingly. Yes, we ate, talked, and played. But we also went out in the crisp weather to put away the patio set and tidy the garage. We watched Christmas shows, visited friends and still cleared out the basement.
#3. We made memories. Like sitting in the movie Encanto and at a resonating part, my daughter reached over and took my hand. And then a few minutes later, before yet another musical number my 9 yo says aloud to the screen, “Stop singing.”
We had one-liners and late-night chats. We had the diversity of a daughter’s nose ring and timing my other daughter’s trip to the temple. We had down-and-dirty Uno games that threatened the fabric of our family, but also a twinkling lights silence as we napped.
As I drove my college daughter back to her apartment, we both got a little teary eyed at saying goodbye to this family weekend of gratitude, giving, and living.
But then came a sweet, peaceful, joyful thought…it’s Christmas:)
