One of Those Days - Christmas Style

You ever have one of those days? You know the ones, the ones that make the author of Murphy's Laws look like an optimist. Well, let me tell you, it can get worse. Here's my day:

1. The children woke up grouchy. Not a little crabby, but really, really grouchy. It might have been a sugar hangover from all the goodies currently in the house, and so technically my fault, but really I think three incidents of hitting, pinching, and kicking at the breakfast table, coupled with a back talking twelve year old, was a bit much!


2. Today was a day I babysit an extra two year old. She's a sweet, good natured, darling little child, but still - she's two, enough said.


3. While trying to make goodies, for the neighbors, to go along with the one batch of peanut brittle I managed to get right, I destroyed two batches of fudge, one a full proof, chocolate recipe, and one a never-fails, peanut butter kind. Who ruins no fail fudge?


4. Falling back on the gingersnaps I made yesterday, I discovered my husband had taken a baggie full to work with him, thereby leaving me short - but in fairness, I didn't tell him tell him they were special, and cookies on the counter are usually for him.


5. Finding another yummy looking snowball cookie recipe linked on Crafty Crow, that looked pretty quick, and simple to make, I started in on them, only to realize I was mysteriously out of walnuts, one of the main ingredients for the cookies, and I'd already cubed the butter, and added the flour.


6. I sent the older children walking to the store for walnuts, and sat down for a minute to crochet a little on a Christmas present, while I was waiting for them to return, only to discover my crochet hook was missing.


7. The children returned from the store with a can of roasted almonds.

Arrrrg!

Okay, so several deep breaths later, and all the younger children down for nap, I slipped out to the store to get the walnuts myself (one major joy of finally having a child old enough to babysit!). The air was fresh, the sun was out, and there was happy Christmas music playing at the store, all was not lost. I began to reflect on the fact, that there have been many times in history, and in fact there are many places in the world today, when and where people might wish for troubles as mundane and trivial as the ones I was experiencing.

And, I was reminded, that this is Christmas, when we remember that Jesus, gave up His place in heaven for a time, to come to earth, and live in all the misery and frustration, that humans live in, to give us the ultimate gift - eternal life!

So, I went home, walnuts in hand, baked the cookies, made a new batch of fudge, which is no-fail, if you follow the directions, and dug the crochet hook out from the couch cushions, where I should have known it would be all along. My husband came home, and knowing it had been a bad day, and knowing he had to go back in to work for a few hours, took over dinner, and let me hide in our room crocheting.

I finished the present, screened up an instant view movie for the children on Netflix, poured a cup of coffee for myself, and called a good friend for a chat. That was when my daughter called me from the bathroom. The toilet was plugged...plugged, and full...and apparently all the holiday treats have had another negative side effect on one of the children, so again, technically my fault...

It's great to be a homeschooler.