I'm at war

My God Daughter Alex & Michael

Is it just me, or does everyone else with kids over 11 feel like finding time to "be" with our kids is an impossibility? We are on the move, & my kids are not over scheduled. it's just life. Life. My oldest work about 6 hours a week, far less than I did at his age, yet he is busier than I ever remember being. Yes my middle is now on the Freshman Basketball team ( way to go Nick!) but it is not more time than his daily gym time, and the youngest, now that football season is over, is committed to  only 2 1/2 hours a week. Yet, it took 2 weeks to find time to decorate the Christmas tree, and even that was done in record time. Less than 15 minutes I think. All the while Alex worked hard to position himself so his face was never in a picture.

My Elf NIck, Alex, avoiding a direct face camera shot

I know, if the worst thing my son does is grunt at me and not let me take his picture, I am sure I will look back at his adolescence with a sense of relief, but for now, it is SO annoying!
 But I am trying to fight the good fight. Trying to make sure we eat dinner together more often than not, atleast for the 15 minutes I can get them to sit down.  We are planing a holiday outing for this weekend. But do I have to kidnap them and take them out of state for us all to be together?

So where does this time go? For my part I am happy to say my practice is busier than ever, so some time in the evening goes there. Mostly though it's homework. and studying and I don't know. I just want to yell " Stop".
So I am changing my Christmas list, all I want for Christmas is time with my kids, sitting by the tree, playing some board games, Just being with each other, that's all, and um if they can not try to kill each other, that would be AWESOME. But I don't want to be greedy.

Christmas for dummies

Don't hate me becuase I am done. Done with the shopping, wrapping and labelling. The radio station is permanently on 97.5 for Christmas music all the time. Working on the cards, to add letter or not to add letter, that is the question....But don't hate me because I am done. This is my favorite time of year, and what with honors classes, my two jobs, sports etc, I find the time to actually enjoy the season with my boys gets more and more difficult, so I try to be "done" by Thanksgiving to squeeze any moment of Christmas cheer out of  our month of December. The halls are decked, the house smells like pine, I have forgotten what half of the presents I got for the boys are ( making the unwrapping exciting for me as well!)
I was dismayed recently to hear my youngest God-daughter no longer believes in Santa. Dismayed is an understatement. My own children still believe in Santa, or atleast have never admitted to me anything otherwise, and Wise of them that is. I found out her mom has some fairly ametuer Christmasing skills, you'd never know she also has a 15 year old with the rookie mistakes she has been making. So I thought I'd share a few of my personal tips, as in my family Christmas is synoymous with "Aunt Cathy", I feel as if I know a little something about this.

First of all, I suggest every parent learn this song, and sing it as often as White Christmas or Deck The Halls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1_qhKppEDo

It was one of my best memories from my Grandmother's apartment in Queens when I was a child.

Next: Make sure your children know you believe in Santa. Naming my second child after him helped in my house.

Next: Have "Santa Sacks" A pillow case decorated for each child for Santa to place their unwrapped presents in. This way it is clear what is from Santa and what is from other family members. Plus it saves the ol' guy & the elves from wrapping gifts, VERY GREEN of you!

Next: Believe Believe in magic, and love, believe in possibility and delight. Believe in the spirit of Christmas and children, in fun and innocence. They are children for such a short time, let it last as long as possible.


And remember what Santa brings, more than the toys or gadgets, the socks and jewelry, is a reminder that honoring our children, symbolized by one specific baby boy, who, as I heard in a funny movie reference a few weeks ago " Just happened to be born on Christmas Day", is really what this time of year is all about.They are, after all, the greatest gift.