I have been thinking of you every day, and when I noticed that there are actually folks who check on this site daily, I felt a huge pang of guilt.
I rapidly progressed from being over run with guilt to feeling plain old overwhelmed. How am I going to update you on the past month and a half of chaos?
So I have decided I am just going to do a brief recap of all the things which would have been worthy of their own posts. That is the only way I can free myself and start blogging 2012 style.
My first born child, the one who made me a Mama, turned 5 years old on December 7th. We hosted a lovely pottery painting party for her. I think it all turned out pretty well, considering the insane amount of time I spent obsessing over how to handle the politics of a 5 year old girls birthday party (in the end I decided small is sweet and big is just too much to handle, emotionally and financially!). She seemed pretty thrilled with the whole experience but was bummed to learn that she would have to wait 12 months to experience the joys of another birthday.
We were honored to attend Art Night with the babe at her school the day after her birthday. Parents and children get dressed in their finest, bring in a pot luck dinner contribution, and experience a gallery type soiree. The collection of Mattisse inspired art was stunning, but really, what was stunning was my daughter's amazing piece. As I can't truly explain it, I have decided to share it here with you.
The day after the babe's birthday party, I cut off my son's long hair. I sat him at the dining room table, brushed his locks one last time, and hacked of a huge chunk with my trusty little scissors. That beautiful head of hair had been 3 years in the making and I had decided I was done. I was done picking out food after every meal. I was done having to wash it so much because of the blobs of dirt and soy nut butter I would discover at bath time every night. I was done explaining that my son is actually a boy, not a girl (I do not exaggerate when I tell you that I did this every single day).
Don't get me wrong, I loved his hair. I thought he was absolutely stunning with his long hair flowing behind him when he ran. But frankly, his behavior has become a tad undesirable of late, and I was beginning to associate his long hair with his newly developing rep as a ruffian trouble making punk. So I chopped it off, put the hair in a Ziploc baggie, and packed my family off to the barber shop where my husband and son both had a hair cut. A new father-son barber shop tradition was born that day (December 11th) and my son has not been called a girl since.
But wait, there's more. That Ziploc baggie with my son's beautiful hair has been sent to India with my Mother in Law. The hair will be scattered into the river where my husband's hair was placed after he had his first hair cut (actually head shave) as part of the (Hindu) Mundan ceremony. I feel good the little guy's hair wasn't just swept up off the barber shop floor. And while I miss his hair, I love that my little boy went from baby to boy in one simple act. It's hard to explain, but something changed the day we cut his hair, and I don't regret our decision.
The kids and I then flew to Canada where we had a 2.5 week long adventure visiting family and friends in Ottawa and Montreal. During the visit my husband celebrated a birthday, and my son, the little guy, turned 3. He is a Christmas Eve baby and hasn't really had a true birthday party yet. Luckily he hasn't seemed to notice and was happy to get a chocolate cupcake with a candle so he could make a wish (although I am not so sure he understands the "wish"concept). We brought the kids to Christmas Mass with my folks and sister which ended in total disaster but managed to rescue the evening and have our Happy Birthday celebration and cupcake eating together as a family. I think we may have to step it up for the little guy next year, though.
We concluded our relaxed visit in Montreal with a smashing New Year's Eve party at my Mother in Law's place. We welcomed 2012 by packing up our car (my husband had driven up to Ottawa closer to Christmas) and hitting the road. Yes, we did the unthinkable. We drove from Montreal to Washington in just under 11 hours. We made 3 stops and powered through Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. And ya know what? The kids were awesome. I have no idea how we all pulled it off, but we did. Now that we know it is doable, my family may become an international road tripping kinda family. Because we certainly aren't going to be able to keep paying the ever increasing prices for plane tickets!
I think I may have overwhelmed you with all this in one post. But I had to get it out of my system. Tackling this update was hanging over my head and while it may not be pretty, at least I have made it official. I hope you had a great holiday season and I hope you have recovered from all the craziness. All the best to you and your loved ones for an awesome, healthy and happy 2012!
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