Jewish Christmas Dinner was a success, although I got a bit tired of all that beige food. (Why is it all beige?) But I enjoyed cooking it and everybody had their favorite dish. I think Sammy ate most of the latkes, Adam loved the apple cake, and I, of course, loved the brisket, although the matzo ball soup was surprisingly good, too. Only the broccoli souffle was a disappointment. Luckily, it was much better for breakfast this morning!
Unfortunately, we're all sick. Adam and Sammy are on the tail end of a bug but I think I muscled through those two days of cooking only to crash hard today. And Christmas Day is not a good time to be off your game. Well, not for me, anyway.
I'm not so sure I like Christmas Day. It's so chaotic and messy. There are a million presents mixed up with wrapping paper. I'm constantly paranoid that gifts will get thrown in the trash. Also, I'm generally very uncomfortable when there are too many objects around me. I feel like I have to keep track of every object and it overloads my system. So after a while I freak out and make everyone clean up before moving on. But where are you going to put all the stuff? Nothing has a place yet because it is all new, so there really is no putting away. And you really don't want to put it all away, right? That would not be fun at all. You want to pile it up and go back to the pile over and over throughout the day. But that pile of stuff, oh my god, it just drives me nuts. Does anyone have a system for an orderly Christmas morning? I fear that when we have two children that I might have to just excuse myself from the whole event. I mean, I'm exaggerating here, but I do have a real problem with too much visual input. I've been meaning to write about that for some time but now it will have to wait until next year.
My neurosis didn't cause too much trouble though, because Sammy seemed overwhelmed as well. The mess didn't get too bad because she only opened about half her presents, and that took all day. She'd go off to play with the latest thing and then she'd forget about the presents and want to color or wash her hands for a half hour (her normal activities). Also, the only thing she really seemed to want was candy. She begged for candy all day. Candy was the number one thing on her wish list when she visited Santa at the mall. I swear, we said this last year but I'm saying it again: I will never again make the mistake of allowing so much candy at Christmas-time. Sugar turns my daughter into an unpleasant creature, to put it kindly. Next year, we will not do an advent calendar with candy (maybe I'll write cute little notes or find tiny toys), there will be one small piece of candy in the stocking, and if we make cookies, Sammy will get one. One cookie, and then the rest are given away or go in the trash. But we cannot have cookies available in this house for an entire month, along with chocolate and Pez and all the candy that is given out at the stores. No, no, no! I swear, never again. Will you remind me, please?
So anyway, we're off to New York tomorrow, where Adam has a conference. We decided to make a little family trip out of it and stay a few days. It's been quite a while since I've been to The City, and I'm really excited. We've got a list of fun activities planned, but really, I just want to soak up the unique energy of the place.
So long for now. I'll be back in 2010, reporting on all the Little Things going on in my world. I wish you a Happy New Year!
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