Lately you may have seen a few blogs or facebook posts floating around about toning down the holidays a little and not going overboard. And you may agree. I, however, do not. And it’s not because I’m an “over acheiving parent” or trying to compete with other moms. It’ simply because I was raised this way and quite honestly I’m still a bit of a kid at heart.
We have this little book that my mom gave my daughter called “my mother gave me the moon” by Patrick Regan. It is a sweet and simple little book and in it there is a line that reads: “My Mother made everyday days seem special. And made special days nothing short of magical”. There it is. That word. “Magical”. That is the kind of childhood my mother gave me and that is exactly the kind of childhood I want for my children.
You see, it has nothing to do with buying the most stuff or gobs and gobs of candy. Instead it is all in the creativity and the experience. I want my children to have a wildly imaginative, overly special, magical kind of childhood because lets face it, they grow up all to fast so why not let them experience and enjoy it all! Why not let them believe in Santa Clause, and Leprechauns, Fairies and Super Heroes. And why not play into it a little bit.
I still remeber waking up on Christmas morning to the magical little touches that were left behind, long before the days of Social Media or Pinterest. I don’t remember the gifts that I got but what I DO remembr is the magic. The gnawed on carrots on the lawn. The half eaten crumbs of cookies left by the fireplace. And even though we lived in CA where there is no snow, there were footprints in white dust by the front porch. All of this, done by my mother long after we went to bed. She would gnaw on those carrots to make it look like the reindeer had, she would nibble on those cookies, and then she would sprinkle cornstarch on the front walkway and stomp around in a pair of my dads boots.
And it wasn’t just Christmas. We made homemade Valentine’s with doilies, Leprechauns magically changed our milk green on St. Patrick’s Day, and we still giggle about my littlest sister than carried around “leprechaun hair” for weeks after she found it in her trap. There were themed Birthday parties and special cakes made to look like Easter Bunnies and Barbie Princess’.
This is how I grew up. We didn’t have a perfect life, or even much money. Just your average middle class family. But my Mom, she made it special….Magical.
Now with my children I do the same and I enjoy every minute of it. For St. Patricks Day we spent hours decorating and constructing a Leprechaun trap and when the kids had gone to bed I was “That” mom sprinkling glitter on the floor and painting little green footprints with a barbie shoe.
Am I ever tired? Yes. Do I ever have things planned and sit there thinking ‘why in the world did I think this up?’. You bet. But then I remember those three crazy kids and the light in their eyes when they get to experience some of that magic.
So I am going to continue on with my overboard Holidays.
I am going to continue making Leprechaun Traps and destroying my kitchen….
And baking cake’s for the 100th day of school…
I’m going to keep making Homemade Valentine Goodies….
And having Mardi Gras Parties….
And I’m DEFINITELY going to keep moving my Elf around…
Because it is fun! These are the things that make me happy and this is what I enjoy doing with my children. So I hope you all will understand; us crafty moms aren’t trying to upset anyone and we certainly aren’t trying to be over achievers….we’re just doing what we do and enjoying every minute of it.
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