Christmas

***For some reason, the space between paragraphs will not stay in place. You will need to deal with this.
Alright, alright, you've been so patient waiting for the stories of the Davis Christmas. Ahh, let the warm fuzzy memories begin...

It was a beautiful day here in Orlando when Bruce got the decorations down from the attic. We opened the windows to let the fresh, warm breeze in and I stated that I would clean before we decorated. I made it very clear to the family that I needed time to clean without everyone bugging me.

After about 2 hours of trying and not getting much accomplished, I finally lost it and said that if I didn't get to finish, I would not decorate and I would cancel Christmas. (I remember it as saying it, Bruce would tell you that I yelled it...who cares about minor details??) Haley starts crying and runs to the couch, only to ask a minute later "what does cancel mean?" By then I'm feeling pretty crummy about the situation and I sit down and talk to her and explain what cancel means and that my freaking out was wrong (as was her behavior). So for the next 2 weeks, every time she did anything remotely wrong, I was asked "are you going to cancel Christmas?" That was my punishment I guess.

The other highlight was my bright idea of reminding her that the elves were watching her and reporting back to Santa. For the record, I never said this in a mean or threatening way. I was simply telling her what other parents tell their kids. I started realizing after awhile that she was asking a little too much about these elves. Then I started realizing she was becoming paranoid of the elves watching her. Seriously. Plan backfired, kid needs therapy. I'm sure it will be one of many sessions!

We made a pathetic gingerbread house (thanks Mom for the kit, next year we'll do it at your house!) but Haley loved it. We made lots of crafts, wrapped presents and finally found the perfect "baby's first Christmas" ornament for Megan. Haley picked out Megan's Christmas dress and her own, I was shocked that she picked pretty common ones. When we got the kids dressed for a visit with Santa, I realized Haley looked straight out of a Charles Dickens book and Megan looked like a Chef at the North Pole. Cute though.

The family was great, the presents flowed, and the weather was warm. I'm sure the memories are merry for the children and next year will be the even more interesting!