The other day, my mom showed me a lovely cocktail dress that she really coveted from Laura. She sighed and said ‘if only I had a place to wear such a nice dress.’
I felt her pain. She is retired and so there are no more office Christmas events to get all gussied up for. Family offers little too. Our family doesn’t merge with the extended relatives anymore over the holidays, so Christmas these years is at my home and well….ok with three kids, subdued is not the write word, but you get what I mean.
I suddenly had a GREAT idea. What if we really pushed the boat out this year? What if we all bought lovely Christmas outfits and went OUT for Christmas dinner. Yeah!!! We could book at one of the gorgeous hotels for their dinner packages. Have a lovely formal family dinner. It would be lovely. I imagined Caitlyn and Tara in beautiful velvet frocks, Adam wearing a little suit and Husband looking his formal best. How fun this would be for our little family I thought. Not to mention getting out of cooking and dishes for Christmas! For one year we could at least FAKE a Martha Stewart Christmas. For one year we could ignore our dog and cat stained house and embrace the glitter and magic of Christmas like it is on television.
Then I remembered. I remembered that very morning. A treat for us…breakfast at McDonalds with Tara. We couldn’t even rise up to the civility of fast food as Tara’s McMuffin ended up mostly on the floor. My children are savages. Eating out with them is like asking Chimpanzees to tea. It can be HORRIFYING. We spend more time apologizing to waiters and surrounding customers who have had the misfortune of watching Tara eat while the others bicker. Caitlyn loves to dress up but at the same time, with her wild hair, attracts dirt from every direction, and subsequently lives with permanent dirt smudges across her pretty face. On some days I wait for Child Services to show up asking why I neglect my kids. As I type, Tara –the two year old – has four shirts pulled on as dresses and tops….no pants though.
photo credit for Depression Family: Walker Evans / Library of Congress
We are not a formal family….mom and I have always dreamed ‘above our station,’ as the old British saying goes, but who are we kidding. Christmas now means ignoring the dirt and chaos and focusing on the wine and sparkly lights. This year, despite hideous coughs that have afflicted our family over the holidays, we had a really nice time. It was laid back..the kids were happy….they seemed to embrace the magic and enjoy every moment. I totally impressed my self by squeezing EVERYONE around our table for dinner. No velvet frocks…but much laughter and good food.
I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!
mo-wo says
It was a really good Christmas for us.. I know what you mean in this post tho’ The kids were in the Empress when we went to Vic. last month. They ‘wanted’ to eat there but I told them — raised eyebrow and all — that I thought they would find all the rules and formality.. well.. “Stressful!”
Maybe it’ll turn out to be like a lil, mini, kid resolution. More swish manners for Mom in 2012!!