The Exhausted Mom's Christmas Pledge

I don’t know about you, but with 10 days to go until Christmas I’m already worn out! Gone are the days of sitting back, enjoying a couple of weeks off of school, and soaking up the Christmas magic. As moms, we don’t really get a holiday break! If anything, the holiday fun adds a lot of crazy to an already full schedule.

I really don’t want to turn into Cranky Mom this holiday season, so I wrote this little pledge to remind myself of what’s really important…

(Disclaimer: I may or may not have exaggerated quite a bit in this post. Ahem.)

1. I will remember that the stores are not always going to be this crowded, and I will stop vowing to never go shopping again.

2. I will not become angry at the person who zipped in front of me and into the last vacant parking spot. I’m sure that they needed it worse than I did. I will not hope that they see me walking in from the back of the parking lot with five kids and feel a pang of guilt.

3. I will not grumble or complain as we untangle little strings of lights and stuff them back into the boxes to return because they did not cover the whole tree and are not compatible with the ones we had and now we have to switch brands.

4. I will smile as I replace the ornaments on the tree and remind little people not to touch them. Again.

5. I will remember that catchy Christmas jingles are part of the season, and I will not be a total scrooge and shut them down every time my children sing them. Unless it’s the Surface Pro 3 commercial… “It’s comes apart I see, it’s got a USB, I really want a Surface Pro 3!” (To the tune of Winter Wonderland. Ahhhhh!!! Change the channel!!!!)

6. I will remember that we are making MEMORIES, not messes. Memories.

7. I will not be frustrated about the “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament that is now in pieces.

8. I will smile as I replace the ornaments on the tree and remind little people not to touch them. Again.

9. I will resist the temptation to put everything under the tree in the bags it came in. Wrapping is part of the fun, right?

10. I will remember that the sugar high is going to wear off eventually. It might be sometime in mid-January, but it will wear off.

11. I will remember that a perfectly posed photo is highly over-rated, and certainly not worth getting frustrated over.

12. I will not sigh or roll my eyes when at 9:00 p.m. the night before the company potluck lunch my husband asks, “How quick can you whip up a green bean casserole? And I think I’m supposed to bring a dessert also.”

13. I will be thankful for the hassle of gifts to buy and treats to make because it means that God has blessed us with more than we need.

14. I will remember that these days will someday belong to a group of memories called, “When the Children Were Little,” and I will miss this stage terribly.

15. I will remember that being a happy mom is more important than checking off the to-do list.

16. And last but not least, I will remember that the real reason we are celebrating is the gift of God’s Son, given that we might have life!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!