Memories for when kids grow up

I love the “on this day” function of Facebook.

Since we’ve gotten away from having huge albums of photos to peruse, this is my kids’ window into their baby pictures and silly things they’ve done over the years.

Over the past few days, I’ve noticed that my kids seem to do a lot more funny things around this time of year.

Almost every day has a host of pictures and four or five snippets of conversations that I’ve captured for posterity. Added to the standard holiday activities of Breakfasts with Santa, holiday concerts, Christmas train rides, and family gatherings, and the December memories are just stacked. I got to wondering why my kids seems so much funnier around this time of year. Looking over the other “highlights,” I noticed that they also seem to do a lot more recordable stuff during our family vacations as well.

Finally, it dawned of me. It’s not them, it’s me. My kids are always this charming and witty and insanity inducing, but I’m not always around to notice it, and I’m definitely not always in the mood to find their shenanigans hilarious.

Hitting the 20-year mark at work added a fifth week of vacation to my schedule. Combined with not taking our weeklong sojourn somewhere this summer due to moving, and I’ve come into the end of the year with almost two full weeks at my disposal. This paired up nicely with the extra long school break that comes with having Christmas on a Wednesday. I even had a few days off last week to run around and take care of some last-minute items that I usually have to sneak around late at night or early in the morning to accomplish.

Don’t get me wrong, as of Monday morning, I am by no means anywhere close to being ready for Christmas. There are still cookies to bake, presents to wrap, maybe a few more decorations to throw up, a ham to bake, and I still have two days to do all that. Usually that’s me at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, so even though we’re down to crunchtime, having an extra 36 hours to get all that done feels like a luxury and after 13 years of this chaotic kid Christmas stuff, I think I finally trust that the magic of Christmas will, in fact, get everything done by the time the kids bounce out of bed on Christmas morning.

Without needing to stay home to finish their homework while I run errands, or having to go to bed early while I’m up baking cookies, I have a lot more windows to interact with my kids over the holidays and I’m trying hard not to let a stray conference call or a deadline distract me.

The other night I had to make a late-night run to the Walmart. G happened to notice me putting my shoes on and asked to go with me. My first response was, “Is your homework done?” and after he rolled his eyes at me, I remembered we’re in the homework-free zone.

He’d had a successful day of doing whatever it is the boys do out in the woods and had spent the afternoon at the taxidermist, picking out a mount for his latest catch. He was quite enthusiastic about sharing all the details, most of which I was quite enthusiastic about not hearing, until it got to where in our house this thing is going to live permanently. Then, I had a lot of opinions. Since we don’t have a garage, I felt like the storage shed would be just fine.

G then informed me that his new “pet” would only have to live with me until he went to college. Oh, I can see the look on his college roommate’s face when he rolls in with a host of dead, stuffed animals. At least it’s not a stolen road sign or a Blues Brothers poster.

In the interest of him not being designated “the weird kid” in college, I graciously offered to keep them safe at home until he got married.

Apparently, 12-year-old G does not look favorably on the institution of marriage, particularly to someone of the opposite sex who is most definitely infested with cooties. I filed some of those comments away to be recited on his wedding day, right after I box up all his varmints and deposit them in the bridal suite.

At any rate, it will only be a few short days until we return to the rat race, and I get stressed out again and short on patience, and the kids go from being charming and cute to being smart-mouthed and irritating. Maybe that’s the Christmas magic that I need to keep going all year-round: the ability to be present and keeping work in the work box and family time in the family time box, and stop trying to be all things to all people all the time.

It’s easier said than done, and I know we will all be happy to return to our schedule by January, but as we head into 2020, I’m hoping that I can focus more on making memories 365 days a year instead of just a few select weeks. I’m hoping that even during the busiest, most hectic times, I can stop and drink in my kids just being their silly little selves and enjoy the moments. Here is hoping that your holiday, and your whole year, is filled with laughter and silliness, and that you’re able to be present to enjoy them. Merry Christmas from me, the Wonderful Husband, A, G, E, Taco Cat, and all of G’s fowl friends. Thank you for sharing 2019 with Life with Liz, and here’s to a happy, healthy, silly and memorable new year.

Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column will appear weekly in our feature section.