This memory isn’t that long ago. It happened this last
Christmas. I need to preface this by saying the last four Christmas seasons
have brought some small challenge or another to our family. In weak moments it
has made me start dreading the holiday season a little bit. But one good thing
about it all… it has made me simplify the holiday season and look for the good.
This story is part of that good.
Christmas 2013 my husband ended up getting pneumonia a week
before Christmas. He was really sick, missed work for a week, and was in bed
sleeping most of that time trying to recover and get better. I was worried
about him, and tired after a week of taking care of him and my little
chickadees. And as many moms do this time of year, I had started to fret and
worry if I was making Christmas memorable enough and fun for my kids.
A few days before Christmas my husband was finally starting
to feel like himself again, and wanted to get out of the house for a little
bit. We decided to go and pick out Christmas gifts for each other as a family.
(In our family we each draw a name, then we all go as a family somewhere, some
of the kids with mom and some with dad, and we go pick out a simple $10 present
for whoever we drew, it’s a fun little family tradition). We hadn’t been able
to do it yet that year with my husband’s sickness and everything else going on,
so off to Wal-mart we went (in our small town that’s the best place to go).
My 4-year-old daughter, Christabelle, and I were paired
together. I had my oldest son and quickly picked out something for him, so then
it was Christabelle’s turn. She had daddy. I gave her some ideas of what we
could do, and together we decided to get him some new cologne. We headed over
to the cologne and perfume isle and started the ritual of picking up colognes
and smelling them.
Christabelle instantly sat down on the floor, and so I sat
down next to her. I would pull out a cologne, sniff it, and then hold it over
under her nose to sniff. Then we would both say what we thought about it. As we
sat there having this simple experience, the thought came to me that I was
making a special Christmas memory.
My daughter will probably not remember this memory in years
to come, but I know I always will. I will remember how it felt to sit on that
floor, at Wal-mart of all places, right next to her. I will remember the cute
way she leaned forward and scrunched up her nose to sniff the cologne, or the
way she sad ‘ewww!’ and made a face when she didn’t like how it smelled. I will
remember how she would point and say ‘let’s try that one!” I will remember
sitting there giggling with her after smelling one that was just plain weird. I
will remember just being with my daughter and sharing a fun moment with her as
her mom.
It is a very simple Christmas memory, it’s not flashy or
exciting, but it is something that will be with me forever. One that I didn’t necessarily
set up or create, but that just happened as I experienced life with my family
and my little girl. And those moments make up some of the best memories I have.
Sometimes as moms we fret and worry if we are filling up our children’s
childhoods with enough memories and good experiences. But most good memories
are just like this one, they are made in the simple every day living of life.
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