Busy Mom Life with Stockings
December 25, 2024
Busy Mom Life with Stockings
A friend made a social media post lamenting that she was so busy that this was year 2 of her baby not having a stocking. Instead, she had four stocking and one basket.
My oldest daughter laughed and said, we’ve been there too. The stockings are a perfect example of life being too full… Remember…
Yes, I remember that Jaquline had a furry slightly off stocking for a year because Walmart ran out of the exact match that year and I waited until the last minute to buy.
Yes, I remember having a chocolate explosion, having to wash all of the stockings, and the glitter glue names washing away. We scrambled to rewrite them and ran out of glitter glue because I forgot until Christmas Eve. The baby’s stocking and my stocking had marker names that year.
And this year, our 22nd, Laud has a blank stocking because last year on Christmas Eve when I went to write his name on the spare stocking I’d saved, I discovered the glitter glue was dried out and this year yesterday (last minute again) the store was out.
Life happened. I forgot. We didn’t unpack the Christmas stuff until late this year. I actually went to the store last minute to get glitter glue, but the store was out.
Sometimes, we get so busy in all of our life things, that traditions we love and even made up ourselves have a detail missed. Those stockings and our age dolls are my family’s traditions. The fact that I have my dolls out again makes my girls glad. It took me almost two months! One mentioned that she loves my improvision on them. You see, Enesco growing up girls stops at 16 and graduate. Kimberly is 17, I put a tile with “17” by her 16yo doll. I have only collected the growing up boys to 7 years old, therefore, Lucas’ doll also has a tile with an amended age.
I’d like to have enough money to have a local artisan make similar boy dolls for the ages 8 to 17 and graduate and a girl 17. That’s not feasible yet. When I find someone who can make it, God will provide the funding so we can keep this tradition for the children and grandchildren (I’m planning in advance). Each girl will have a special adult doll once graduate no longer fits.
Back to stockings (and I get distracted sometimes). The social media post made me laugh because I’m at child #8, #10 stocking and #22 year of this tradition yet this is year 2 of Laud without a name on his stocking. You’d think I would check ahead by now or something, right?
I could be down on myself and choose to let that “mom fail” steal my joy. My own brain yells at me over this. But no! Christmas is not about stockings with names on them or the family watching special Christmas movies together. It’s not about our traditions. It’s about celebrating Jesus’ birth. It’s celebrating our Savior.
As long as we keep the main thing the main thing everything else will build memories. Adapting so we still have fun and keep our attitude positive (and therefore the household attitude – we are chief mood officers according to Courtney DeFeo) is a life skill we should be able to add to our resume.
Don’t sweat the details. One day your child will smile at another story and say, “hey Mom, remember when…” as it often turns out the years where some little detail was not quite perfect helps to highlight a fond memory. Do your best, let God take care of the rest, and remember that the most important gift you are giving is your time and active presence.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for reading,
Type at you next time!
~Nancy Tart
