I am so woefully unprepared for the holidays it’s pitiful. I’m about to execute a HUGE Mommy Fail. It’s not all my fault! For some reason, holiday gift shopping falls on my shoulders. I don’t know why this is. HUSBAND and I both work, and even though I’m only part time I am in charge of almost all daily operations at home. I arrange playdates, take the kids to NY Kids Club twice a week for Gym Jrs and Gymnastics, handle almost all the grocery shopping, bill payments, laundry…shouldn’t HUSBAND be sharing the burden when it comes to holiday shopping?
Add to that all the other “extras” that the holidays come with. End of year tips, travel plans, Thanksgiving side dishes to bring to my mom’s, gifts for not just our kids but some of my friends’ kids, that darn family photo postcard that I have yet to even begin thinking about, and of course, finding something to do with the kids for those two, mercilessly never-ending weeks of school vacation.
On top of all the holiday craziness, YOUNG LADY just happens have been a December baby, which means I’m simultaneously planning an 8th birthday party while trying to be the perfect holiday mom. My babysitter always chooses this extremely stressful time of year for her vacation and HUSBAND always seems to be the one guy at work who simply can’t miss a day. Yup…he’s even driving back into the city from my parents’ house on the Friday after Thanksgiving so that he can work. He’ll come back that night, four hours of driving behind him, and he’ll lament about how slow his day was. Yes, HUSBAND. It was slow because you are the only person in New York going to work that day! (Apologies to all the fireman, cops and emergency room staff out there…and their spouses…I didn’t mean you).
Oh, but listen to me. I sound like the Grinch who stole Mommy. I’m usually a much more optimistic person, and I hate being the one to sour everyone’s holiday cheer. But come on, who’s with me? Isn’t “Holiday Time” just code for “Make Mommy Work Double Time”? Do I really have to pretend to enjoy all of this?
On the other hand, with all the time I spend teaching my children to be charitable and kind, maybe I should be modeling it a little more. Maybe I should spend less time sweating the small stuff and more time taking LITTLE GUY and YOUNG LADY to drop off coats for NY Cares. And there’s always a box at school for toy donations. We really need to clean out our toy closet!
You know what? Let’s just keep the first part of this post between us. I take it all back. I’m going to start my New Year’s resolution early: To be the kind of person I want my kids to grow up to be. And to ask HUSBAND to pitch in on the gift shopping.
