I didn’t take my comfy pants off for days till last night. (Not the same pair all that time, mind you. Eww.)
I didn’t put bows on the presents. Wrapped and done.
I didn’t even use many tags. (Just coded them by wrapping.)
We didn’t have a beautiful family picture for our Christmas cards – I ended up making a collage so all four of us would be represented.
I didn’t get out of bed before 9 a.m., ever (even on Christmas morning – our children ROCK.)
I didn’t make “real” cookies with cut outs or beautiful icing (and Santa still liked them just fine…he told me so.)
The Bub didn’t change out of his Christmas jammies for more than 24 hours, and that was just to change into new ones.
I didn’t cook anything on Christmas eve. (Pizza. Thank you.)
I didn’t take enough pictures – I was too busy being in the moment. (But I’ll probably regret it.)
I didn’t pick up the millions of itty bitty legos that have been underfoot for days. (Still haven’t. I kind of surrender.)
I didn’t make the bed once, even with tons of family here.
I didn’t take one piece of Christmas decor down. (But I’m feeling the itch.)
I didn’t mind one single bit when the whole family sat down and watched Despicable Me during Christmas dinner. I loved it – it was easy and fun and relaxed and US. (We love that movie!)
I didn’t break out into hives when the house was trashed for 36 hours straight.
And then I still didn’t clean it after 36 hours – I just left and went shopping. :)
My husband and I didn’t exchange gifts – because being debt free is going to be our gift to each other and our family. (SOON.)
Every year, I have all of these visions of what our holidays will be in my head -- usually there’s a soft glow around everyone, birds are singing (somewhere) and I look 15 pounds thinner…it’s a great vision. In my head. :)
And those visions pretty much never happen. It’s never perfect. I never accomplish all that want to. Every year I say, I’ll make a list of those things I want to get done and make sure to do them. And every year life gets in the way.
A whole lot of “didn’t” happens.
And every year I realize how very OK with that I am. Our holidays don’t end up our like my visions -- they always turn out so much better. So sweet. So close. So much family. So much big, fat, LOVE.
I hope your holiday was all you (didn’t) envision and so, so, so much more. :)
I’ll be back tomorrow with an update on my office redo!
Sounds just wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteLove it!! It sounds absolutely heavenly and exactly my kind of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI got lucky, the Hubs cleaned up while the baby and I napped on Christmas - it was awesome!!
Merry Christmas!
Your Christmas sounds heavenly! I think next year I will strive for a "didn't" season and see where it takes me. :)
ReplyDeleteWell I got up Christmas morning with my amazing kids and had a great Christmas.... and then lost it..... cried and cried and cried! I missed home and I missed my mama! So I packed up the kids said goodbye to my husband and I drove home to my mama and my grandma!! Had a great holiday meal and had a horrible night that night being away from home so got up at the crack up dawn the next morning and drove home in a blizzard!!! There is no place like home with my husband but SO glad I got to see my family for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteperfection is overrated! I'm glad your Christmas was wonderful and woohoo with the kiddos sleeping in so late! :)
ReplyDeleteSince we didn't have company other than the immediate family, we stayed in our new jammies all day on Christmas. We cooked and ate, played with the baby, enjoyed our special snowy white Christmas and it was perfect!
ReplyDeleteMy christmas day didnt go as planned either. I planned a nice christmas dinner with lots of family members....only my inlaws showed up and everything was perfect!
ReplyDeleteI planned to take plenty of pictures of the boys opening their toys...instead I was on the floor helpin them open them!
i planned to have so much to blog about...instead I came up with nothing
i thought after my post today, I would lose followers...instead I gained a few;-)
Sometimes things are just better when they dont go as planned!
I hope you have a very Happy New Year, Sarah!
I know this sounds odd, but I love the DIDN'Ts in life sometimes. Like not cleaning and not worrying about the messy house and ordering pizza and chilling out to the max b/c it just feels right/necessary.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to enjoy family and relax in your comfy pants for a few days =) It helps us refuel for returning to the standard level of craziness <3
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
I like the "didn'ts" the best, too.
ReplyDeleteWait! I am so confused! I thought there was just the Bubs? But their are "children" and there are "4" in the family. Where have I gone wrong?
ReplyDeleteI feel like someone just told me the earth is flat. . .?
LOL!!! I Love it!!
ReplyDeleteGirl, you and I are on the same page!! I DIDN'T make any gifts this year. No time, no guilt, no worries. ;) Everyone ended up loving the things I shopped for and chose, and it was okay. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a Merry Christmas!
Sarah, sounds like what has being going on at our home...it is the Perfect way to spend Christmas! ;) So glad you had a great time enjoying the best presents of all...your family and memories! Oh, we too loved Despicable Me!! I watched it 3 times, which is so not like me! lol Loved it! Hugs and love friend!!
ReplyDeleteVictoria
Love! LOVE! LoVE! this post!! I did every single thing exactly the way you did... even down to ordering pizza and watching Despicable Me! haha! The ONLY difference is, I HAD to take down my Christmas stuff that night! It was driving me bonkers!!!
ReplyDeleteMandi, you are cracking me up! I have a 20-year-old stepdaughter. :) The fact that both our college student and four-year-old slept in on Christmas morning has to be some kind of record!
ReplyDeleteI love your list of didn't!
ReplyDeleteI HAD to take down the tree, though. It was giving me hives- literally!- I'm allergic to the green spray paint I didn't realize the tree had been sprayed with!
Happy Holidays and I hope your New Year continues to be relaxing.
i am totally on your page here...my whole christmas was and still is, the very same...8 people here 24/7 in an albeit large 4 bed house still makes for a lot of mess and stuff.
ReplyDeletebut thats ok...i too am IN the moment and not skirting round them!!
new found homemaking trend maybe? :)
sounds like a WONDERFUL holiday! We are very low key as well - it is great! I just recapped our low key weekend - it was great.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a perfectly wonderful Christmas in my book. Happy Holidays my friend!
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, I flat refuse to take down a single Chrsitmas decoration until at least New Years. I like to prolong it as much as possible.
okay, so this might be my favorite blog post by ANY blogger during the Christmas season!!! I love, love, LOVE this post!
ReplyDeleteblessings,
melody
melody-mae.blogspot.com
I love this! You made my day:) I think you said what alot of us feel! Thanks for sharing! I love reading your blog....Thanks for the awesome ideas:)
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome post! I didn't get many pictures this year. For Christmas Eve service I forgot to bring the battery (charging). My boys wouldn't pose in front of the tree in their jammies.
ReplyDeleteI haven't taken down any Christmas decor either. I can't until maybe New Year's Eve.
I love it! It's so refreshing to see that other bloggers aren't perfect either. Now I like you even more! <3
ReplyDeleteI made a post last week about all the stuff I didn't do for Christmas. It's pretty funny if you want to be entertained for a few minutes.
Confessions of Christmas from House of Hepworths
Take care!
~Allison @ House of Hepworths
This is such a great post! I got all teary and everything! I shared it with my readers with my own little list of didn'ts. :) http://www.homemakingexpert.com/2010/12/reflecting-on-christmas-didnts.html
ReplyDeletenice site,...i will came back
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hitmanslife2.com/
WOW!! It sounds like you and I DID have very very similar Christmas! AND it was WONDERFUL!!!! OH! I have been told that you should leave your decorations up until after the New Year in honor of the 6 days it took the Kings to reach baby Jesus and present the family with the famous 3 gifts. I always leave them up for that reason. PLUS you don't have to mess it for days!
ReplyDeletep.s. typing this in fluffy snowman pj's right now! :)
I love this post. I can relate, as I am trying to give up on PERFECT lately. All the dreams and visions that I think Christmas will be, and just accepting what it is. I am learning to enjoy it all more for what it is and not what I think it should be.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for a great blog post.
Denise
Sounds like you had a relaxed, fun holiday. As it should be! P.S. How many cats are on your bed?! LOL! It looks like my bed too, but replace one of the cats with an 80 lb bloodhound!
ReplyDeleteNow, if we could just be content with all out "didn't" moments the rest of the year. I really enjoyed reading this post and love the color coded wrapping idea!
ReplyDeleteLoved this post and the lack of perfection and guilt...!!! Loved the pic of your cats on the unmade bed...reminds me of our home. The cats get on the unmade bed "nest' and who can dare move them? :)
ReplyDeleteCheers to 2011
Looking forward to the office redo. Mine could use it as well so I'll listen for your knock at my door... k??
ReplyDeleteDI
Sounds wonderful. Too bad I can't take a note from your page...I DID do all those things...little OCD I think! Happy New year!
ReplyDeleteDid you know there are such things as "dress pajamas"? Well, that's what I am trying to convince my family of, anyway! Got up Christmas morning and changed out of one pair of jammies into my "dress jammies"...for pictures, ya know!
ReplyDeleteEvery aspect of your Christmas sounds like the one we had. Lots of "didn't". One holiday a year full of "didn't" is good for us!
Good post! Perfection is overrated. Even after all the sprucing up, life just happens. Life is to be enjoyed not orchestrated like a Broadway production.
ReplyDeleteYou rock! I bet, your family treasures that Christmas more than any of the "perfect" ones, with homemade everything's and a clean to the bone house! Being a relaxed Mom is way better then a stressed out one, keep on...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful Christmas. Ours was super simple...we got a wonderful gift in the way of our first grandchild on the 21st. I still had a little bit of stocking stuffers to buy for the kids but it didn't get done due to the fact that we drove 7 hours to be there for that adorable baby! We came back home on Christmas eve to family bringing food for us to have Christmas day and for the morning. I am taking my decor down to drive back to help out with our sweet little granddaughter..... It could be August the 28 for all I know! :-)
ReplyDeleteChristmas was just "a little" different this year at my daughter's house. She sent out Christmas invitations via email & the required attire was Christmas PJ's. Most of the guests were family & a few friends. Had some guy's that just did want to wear jammies so it was lounge pants & tee's for them. It was fun & comfortable which meant much more "goodies" to eat. I must say it was one of the best Christmas ever. Oh, the next day I changed into my reindeer jammies & stayed in them all day long, lol.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! Love all the cats curled up on your messy bed!! Gotta put Despicable Me on top on my Netflix queu. You know, you make all of us smile....that's why we keep coming back. I hope you know what a charming personality you have!
ReplyDeleteOur christmas ended up being just like yours and I loved it. We too did very little this year because debt free is so important to us.
ReplyDeleteMany Blessings to you
I cleaned all weekend and rewarded myself with pizza on Christmas eve. With wine. Next time it won't be Domino's pizza, yuck :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome Christmas! We were super lazy too althought I just put away all the Christmas decor in my house. Except the tree. That's tonight I think!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing better than being lazy on Christmas...or any other day really! Sound like yours was awesome! Those legos will get you, won't they?
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of Christmas! I finally had to get out of my pj's because my mom wanted to skype ;)
ReplyDeleteOh I loved this post. Thanks for being real :) I also can resonate with SO many things on your list! I didn't get out of sweats until this morning...and let me tell you...the jeans don't fit as nicely after all of those cookies! I'll be going to the gym later today :)
ReplyDeleteWe roll the same way... I like when Christmas and our holidays are 'uneventful' and have to problems saying so. We cooked a Christmas dinner, lived in our loungey clothes and just 'lived'.
ReplyDeleteI am ready for the tree to come down. But, I'm not to get upset if it doesn't happen today.
((our last year we had a parent pass away and we spent Christmas in the Airport, family started arguments, it was awful)) so, we like our holidays q.u.i.e.t.
Merry Christmas again and Have a great long week of relaxing nothingness!!!!
Thank you for sharing your Christmas so honestly. I always feel like a klutzy homemaker, but stuff like this makes me feel better. All hail to the DIDN'TS!
ReplyDeleteYour didn't Christmas sounds perfect to me! Chances are Bub won't remember your perfect cookies, perfect wrapped and tagged gifts, perfect meal, etc anyway. He'll remember the time spent with family and the love!
ReplyDeleteOh how I like this post! It is when we let go and enjoy the "didn't" that make the holidays so special. Thank you!
ReplyDeletesounds lovely and relaxing! and congratulations being debt free (or almost debt free)!!!! that must be a great feeling!
ReplyDeleteI love it! What you didn't do sounds completely lovely.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you sista...I "didn't" do a whole lot of stuff. But that's what makes Christmas your own. It's not what you do to make it a wonderful time, it's what you didn't do that makes it a time to remember...:)
ReplyDeleteLove, Love Love this!!! That is exactly what Christmas should be!!! We had a similar time...just husband, son and me on Christmas Eve...daughter works in a restaurant at a local resort, so we went there for Christmas Day dinner (first time EVER going out to dinner on Christas) and it was fantastic. A new tradition I thin...I'm thinking most of us had a very similar holiday to you, and not the ones we see on blogs LOL! Enjoy your New Year's weekend - can't wait to hear about it!!
ReplyDeleteso well put. I love the day after Christmas. That I can have to myself, my husband and daughter. without having to leave the house. or do a darn thing :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great Christmas tradition! There's no earthly way we can do all we would love to imagine and live to tell it! Goes back to less is more! Which for the most part, I'm all about! I hope you and your family have a healthy and prosperous New Year
ReplyDeleteMarie
www.sisterpickers.blogspot.com
I'm so glad that not everyone had the postcard perfect holiday. My New Years resolution is to stop trying to make the holdays perfect and work on making them "us". So what that my toddler didn't give a whip about her gifts. So what my holldaise turned into egg frosting. In the end we were together and we were warm and safe and fed. That is something to be grateful for :)
ReplyDeleteAMEN! Thanks for this post. Every year I feel the same way about my "didn'ts". I say MY because it's only in MY head. My kids don't care, they enjoy anything I actually DO. :) Sounds like you had a perfect holiday. We watched Despicable Me also, LOVE IT!
ReplyDelete"He's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!" LOL I...I mean, my kids LOVE that movie, too. :D
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with all of the other commenters, this is one of my favorite posts of the year.
Sounds so wonderful and so relaxing
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love this post! And many congrats on being nearly debt-free! That's a huge accomplishment that you should be very proud of!
ReplyDeleteHi there..
ReplyDeleteLoved your post. It was so genuine.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Right-on sister!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute cute post!!!!! Glad to hear I wasn't the only one who stayed in pjs for 2 days straight...I can't even remember if I brushed my teeth either! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Blog friend!
Haha, ditto on so many of these!
ReplyDeleteso sounds like our christmas. i was still decorating on christmas eve. and my little one is STILL in her christmas jammies. (she changed to go to church and that was it!) but i didn't do any shopping after christmas. just movies.
ReplyDeleteand p.s. we had the same cookies for santa! (minus the nice frosting and sprinkles.) and my 7 yr old says to me as we were "making" them; "this isn't very fun." whatever! that's how it is this year chica!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving your blog! I've gotten all kinds of ideas floating around in my head right now, and I want to tackle them all rightnow. Keep the great work coming!
ReplyDeleteI love this post. Love, love, love.
ReplyDeleteMy family also watched Despicable Me on Christmas.
- Lauren
Ladaisi Blog
Sarah!! You had me at "I Didn't" ha ha Thanks for your openess & honesty. It was refreshing to actually relate to a blogger for once :)
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your post. I did a whole lot of "didn'ts" too. I didn't bake one cookie! Oh the shame... My 2 year old son's Hot Wheels were spread in the house like wild fire... But the tree and decor had to come down. I was feeling smothered. This prego mama couldn't take it much longer. Now I'm sitting in limbo debating on putting everything back or searching for new accessories....
ReplyDeleteWe watched Despicable Me the day after Christmas - all 27 cousins plus a few boyfriends/girlfriends crammed into the grandparents basement - it was great. :)
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I made cookies just like yours. The break and bakes and my little girl rolled the sides in sprinkles. easy :)
ReplyDeleteGood for you! My kids still say the BEST Christmas ever was the one when we went out for Chinese and came home and relaxed. No running to other family members homes or visiting, just a lazy family day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post Sarah. That's just what I needed to read to remind me that the important things at Christmas are not things at all, but people and memories. :) Keep up the blogging, I love it!
ReplyDeleteYou did some seriously awesome "didn'ts"! Loved reading this!
ReplyDelete