I’ve been on a hiatus.
Actually, though we’ve been traveling a LOT and I’ve been super busy, the real reason that I haven’t been writing much is because we had to get a new laptop… and I have absolutely no idea how it works. Today I successfully figured out how to open a blank document! Baby steps, people.
The first week of December, my husband and I took a trip to Jamaica to do some work for a non-profit mission group. Then we came home and - boom! It was Christmas. Going from 80 degrees in Montego Bay to 17 at Cleveland Hopkins was nothing short of surreal.
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Though I was glad to be home (my 3-year-old grabbed my leg and said, “Mom! You was gone for-ebber!”) the Christmas rush fell on me like a ton of snowy bricks.
After only one week of decompression, unpacking and gift-wrapping, we were on the road again… this time with 4 kids and a van-ful of Christmas presents.
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Needless to say, the holidays were not peaceful and calm for me. They were hectic and kind of crazy. Don’t get me wrong – they weren’t BAD – I was glad to see my family and friends and be able to spend time with everyone. It was just too rushed.
The kids and I re-read “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and I could relate to the unruly, unorganized Herdmans like never before.
As a matter of fact, reading that classic aloud to my kids (and crying when Imogene Herdman started to cry) was one of my favorite memories of this past Christmas.
Realizing that the craziness needs to be toned down a bit (thanks, Herdmans), I’ve decided that this year we are going to try to do a few things differently. No, I’m not going to worry about a list of resolutions that I’ll no doubt mess up long before the first of February. I just want to slow down. My kids are growing up really fast, and I would like to enjoy their littleness more before it disappears.
So… we are going to take fewer classes and have more PJ days.
We are going to turn off the iPad games so we can snuggle in bed and read lots of good books.
We are going to do more baking (probably the kids will do more baking – I am cursed with an uncanny ability to forget that things are in the oven.)
We are going to make more homemade things (like laundry detergent, baby wipes and salad dressing!)
We are going to spend more time together and just LIVE.
And we are going to slow down.
Actually, maybe we will all go on a hiatus.