After the chaos of Christmas, my house is more of a disaster than usual, but the nice thing is, that there is glitter everywhere. It's a good thing that I love sparkles, because for the last couple of weeks, we have been finding stray glitter pieces everywhere- on our cheeks, in our hair- my son found some in his soup the other night. He decided it wasn't toxic, ate it anyway, and told me about it later. At least he didn't come up with any ideas about waiting for it to pass- glittery poop is the kind of thing that kid would find hysterical.
The source of the glitter was Christmas craftiness. We made cards and ornaments for the grandmas...
I'm also still finding stray bits of wrapping paper and packaging, separating paper from plastic, and marveling that this time of sharing and love is the one week in the year that our trash can is actually full when we drag it to the curb. Maybe I can use some of the paper for my belated solstice bonfire that never happened, unless the colored wrapping paper is full of lead or some other toxic chemical I don't want to burn. I guess I'll have to google it.
Anyway, I do feel very blessed that we were able to continue the traditions for us that make the holidays special each year. We read our favorite holiday books, and we watched our favorite movies. My mother-in-law has a wonderful tradition at her holiday gatherings that each guest must provide some sort of entertainment. The "talents" vary widely- we've had songs on the piano, poems, magic tricks, dances jokes and more. Of course, some have more actual talent than others, but all are fun, and entertaining, it is. Last year, my little family did a rousing rendition of the Heat Miser song from The Year Without a Santa Clause. For those of you not familiar with 1970's era Christmas specials, here's what I'm talking about...
It was a hit. This year, I opted for "Quirky Science Tricks" as seen below....
I don't have a British accent, and not all my tricks worked perfectly, but it was well received anyway.
Now, on this leisurely morning after the Christmas chaos, while being thankful for all the goodies that came our way this holiday, I am contemplating Boxing Day, and the idea of boxing up some of this excess stuff and passing it on to someone who needs it more than me. My younger child just finished reading our beloved old copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas aloud to me in bed, and I think I'll close with my favorite line from that Dr. Suess classic...
"And he puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas....perhaps...means a little bit more!"
I hope everyone's holiday was full of blessings and glittery good things!
