Well I must say, adding a fourth child certainly has up’d the chaos level in our home…and just in time for Christmas.  Wren was born November 28 and while she is the easiest baby we have had, the other three have somehow become more.  For most families, kids are winding down at school and up for Christmas.  What I am quickly beginning to figure out is that my standards for “normal” are being changed daily as I observe and interact with my growing family.  I either adapt to the chaos or I will be overrun.

The folks at the Love and Logic Institute (www.loveandlogic.com) ask:

“What was your best Christmas as a kid? Was it the one where there was a lot of stress about a perfect meal elegantly served-on time-to a perfectly dressed family? Or was it the one where the dog pulled the turkey off the stove and dragged it away through the dog door? There was no perfect meal that day. Everyone rolled with the punches. They rolled up their sleeves and worked together in the kitchen to salvage a makeshift meal.

The beauty of that memory is not in perfection and organization, but in remembering the joy of being together and doing things together. It was the laughter. It was one of those days when the choices were to laugh or to cry, so you all laughed it off and enjoyed one another. It brought you all together in a different way.

Holidays are times for enjoying one another. We are not suggesting that you purposely feed the turkey to the pets, but we strongly suggest that an imperfect day with little stress will create better memories of loving relationships” …which in my opinion is the point of Christmas…relationship.

So to you I say, remember the reason for the season, stay consistent but most importantly be loving and patient this Christmas amidst all the chaos…and say to yourself, “At least I don’t have four kids.”

I wish you a perfectly imperfect Christmas season.

Torie