I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas! We had lots of delicious food, and it was very fun to spend so much time in the kitchen in a fairly relaxed way. Mom handled Christmas Eve dinner, and I only had to do Christmas Dinner for five, so it wasn't too stressful. I'm sure it will be no big surprise to anyone that the baby likes yorkshire pudding, although he was a little too addled by all his new toys to concentrate on eating. And nobody warmed me what Christmas was like with a 2 year old! I wasn't at all prepared for the wrapping paper-ripping dervish that spun through our living room, opening every present in site, no matter who it was for. He didn't even really care about them being for him, or hoarding them or anything. He just really wanted to open them, to know what was behind all that paper and in all those boxes. He just really couldn't handle the suspense! In hindsight I wish we had done Emmett's presents with him in the morning and then done the adult presents in a more calm and ceremonious way during nap, or in the evening. It was kind of a bummer to spend so much time and money getting just the right gifts for everybody and then not really being able to watch them open them! So my advice to anyone who will have a two year old next Christmas: split it up! I'm hoping when he's three he'll be able to listen to reason about taking turns opening presents, and maybe even think about picking out a few presents to give to his favorite people, so he can start to get the idea a little better. Anyone have any thoughts or stories about Christmas with toddlers?
I honestly can't believe how similar our holidays were! I could probably cut and paste your post onto my own blog. First, we have those same jammies, just in a two-piece set. We also had the mound of machines assail our living room. I think the entire CAT series is now spread out on our floor. We also had the whirling dervish who wanted to unwrap everything in sight, although we did get the grandparents to open their own, which was good. He was in an opening frenzy and learned very fast that those shirt boxes have nothing fun in them! It looks like you had a great time, though, and I love the idea of opening things separately. Next year we're just going to try and get more people to come to us!
ReplyDeleteLooks so so lovely! If it makes you feel any better, I survived xmas morning with my sister's five kids. We had to save all adult presents until they were pre-occupied with new toys.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ones over three aren't much better at listening to gift opening reasoning either, sadly....
That is a happy looking day! I have a six year old, which means I remember nothing that happened longer than about a week ago. So I do not remember what he was like at Christmas when he was two! He's great now though, enjoying watching everyone open their presents, and opening his own in a very appreciative way. He (and my husband) gave me the most beautiful necklace this year! I wear it every awake moment now. Love it so, so much. Happy New Year, Rebecca!
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