1. The number of happy little "elves" who were beyond excited to help me decorate on Thanksgiving weekend, dropped drastically to zero as everyone pretended to be interested in whatever Bowl game happened to be on t.v. at the exact time I said I would be taking down decorations and would like some help, please.2. No matter how hard I try, the ornaments are never going to fit back in the boxes the way they came out. So I need to stop trying.
3. The ratio of ornaments I find myself left with is 50:25:25. 50% made it off the tree unbroken and intact. 25% are slightly worse for wear having been chipped or altered in some other manner (I set those aside telling myself I will buy super glue and repair them for next year). 25% were broken, shattered, or ruined completely and thrown away over the course of the holiday.
4. I made a note to myself to stock up on cheap, plastic ornaments at the after Christmas clearance sales as all holiday long my toddler thought it would be a good idea to practice his early ball skills by grabbing ornaments off the tree, running five feet into the kitchen and chucking them onto the tile floor where they became one of the latter 25%.
5. As I put the 50% away that made it through the holidays, I noticed they were all the cheap, ugly ones that I have received as gag gifts or at white elephant holiday parties that I put around the bottom of the tree hoping my toddler would destroy them.
6. I know I am never going fix the 25% I deemed "fixable."
7. Inevitably, I will overlook a decoration that is either winter-themed or was placed in an odd location around my home. Someone will notice it when I am hosting the group playdate in March, after which I will take it down and shove it in the first holiday tote I find.
8. I will wonder where that decoration is next year, only to find it two years from now stuffed among the bunnies and plastic eggs that I use to decorate for Easter.
9. I feel a much bigger sense of satisfaction once the decorations are packed away, the tree is taken to the recycling center, the floor is vacuumed, the furniture is moved back, and the toys are relocated to their permanent locations than I had when I stepped back and viewed the house fully decorated.
10. When the kids are back to school and the house is tidy and quiet again, I will realize that despite the extreme stress, chaos, mess and general disorganization that the holidays bring, I kind of miss it and am looking forward to next Christmas just a little bit.
Oh I am with you on your list, especially the last one and missing Christmas ever so slightly when it is all said and done.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that happens, doesn't it? :)
DeleteSo, so, so true.
ReplyDeleteI always get a little sad when Christmas is over... though I do love getting the house back in order. I know that I put some stuff away this year that I will not be able to find next year. I just know it.
ReplyDeleteOh, and you're not alone with un-decorating. I ALWAYS do it by myself while my husband is watching football and my boys are doing something else. Frustrating!
What's up with them anyway? And next year I'm sure I'll be looking for a certain ornament everywhere before I remember it got broken this year. :/
DeleteAll incredibly true, but especially #9. #9 times infinity!
ReplyDeleteIt's like, ahhhhh . ..
DeleteI hate it when I find a Christmas decoration weeks after I have put the decorations away. Happens every stinkin' year, though. Usually, it's the hand towels.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got to #3, I actually thought, "She's not really going to fix those, is she?" So #6 made me smile.
I know, I laugh at myself sometimes, too!
DeleteI would like pie chart of those percentages please, because I like charts, and I love pie.
ReplyDeleteMy undecorating started with me hurling the empty container at the family on New Years Day and pleading with the kids to please take the ornaments off of the tree. They got some, and then went off to do other things. I ended up finishing for them and laying on the floor in front of the couch, trying to get all the ones that rolled into dustbunny land. I told my husband he was in charge of the actual disassembling of the tree, which didn't take place until later in the week. The tree is gone, but the sweeping and stuff hasn't occurred yet. Maybe before Valentine's Day. I'll have an excuse because I'm asking for a trash can as my gift. REALLY, I AM!
Haha, I wish I knew how to make graphics like that. Resolved: learn how to make pie charts in 2013.
DeleteI am so with you on #9 and #10.
ReplyDeleteHA! #7 for sure. I always, always do that! Then I find a random Christmas decoration stuffed in the Valentine's Day stuff a year later. And I promptly stuff it in the Thanksgiving stuff, figuring at least T-day is close to Christmas, right?
ReplyDeleteYou would think, but I still find my Christmas stuff in all sorts of random totes. No other holiday decorations, just Christmas!
DeleteThis is spot on! The infinite process of finding "one more piece" of Christmas that needs to go downstairs will continue until Easter for sure! Your posts are always such a breath of fresh air for me Kathy ;) I love reading...
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen!! xo
DeleteMy husband came to our marriage with every ornament from his childhood. They take up our entire tree, and every year exactly one breaks. I'm always hoping for a good 25% breakage ratio. "Sorry kids. You can't have any ornaments, because Grandma did such a good job of keeping Daddy's ornaments organized and intact."
ReplyDelete-Amy
My mom tried to pawn all ours off on us, too, but we convinced her she needed to keep them.
DeleteKathy, this is perfect! After spending the day tearing down Christmas, this was exactly what I needed to read to make me feel less crazy. But yeah...am already looking forward to next Christmas. Just wish I didn't love it so darn much ;)
ReplyDeleteI know! There's such an anticipation and build-up, then it's so stressful and sometimes a let down, then you just want to get it over with. Sigh . . . Love it!
DeleteMy son's baby's first christmas ornament broke this christmas. I put it on top of the piano to "fix later". At least it will be easy to find next Christmas when it's still right there.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Mine from last Christmas that I was going to fix are still on the table downstairs and didn't get fixed in time for this Christmas.
DeleteI ended up putting away all the decoration with the help of all three kids. This seemed like a good lesson initially, but devolved rapidly. Little Brother started pulling ornaments randomly from the tree and Baby proceeded to rip bits of packing material and spread it everywhere. Only Big Brother tried to help, but he's four, so it only goes so far. *whew*. I, too, felt that satisfaction one everything was back "to normal". I do miss Christmas, though. I hate to wish too much, because I know time will fly so fast and it will be here before we know it. - Laura
ReplyDeleteLaura, you are brave for letting them all help! Sometimes I'm kind of glad when they don't want to help because it's just "easier."
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