Historically, I have always had one bad day before the 25th. Last year, it was the 24th. I don’t know what it was but I was just in a bad/stressed mood. Then I mentioned that my aunt was planning to make the lasagna once we all got to her house and my husband’s reply was, “I’ll eat something else then.” And I was thinking about how he likes lasagna and it’s one of the foods he’s not even that picky about so I lost my ever-loving mind and went OFF on him and then the kids and it all came crashing down. I managed to recover and then the kids went with me to church and that was a nice way to return to normal.

But why do the holidays make us panic? I mean, they should be full of happiness and joy and excitement and anticipation. But not anger and depression. (I am sure it may be different for people in locked down places and I do feel bad for y’all. That’s not right.) I had to really look hard and what was making me upset yesterday and I couldn’t come up with a dang thing. In fact, I am done. I am done shopping and even done wrapping. I think I have set a record because I am normally still a little behind. But not this year! The only thing I have to do is make one more grocery trip and make sugar cookies. I have a few things to do for work but I am doing that now. The house is pretty clean so that also makes me happy. Dakota has a friend coming later but that’s not super stressful; the girls tend to play better and give me less trouble than the boys. Though I will say, my boys went biking with a friend yesterday and it always brings me a sense of pride when I can send them safely out into the world on their own. It means our parenting has paid off. They know how to ride safely.

So, today my goal is to keep calm. To be reasonable about things as they come my way. And now, to go to the grocery store!