As in, gritting my teeth, kicking things out of the way, "No one's leaving here till we get one good (expletive) picture" kind of carried away.
It's a problem.
And it's especially bad at the holidays.
Poor Buggy Boy was only about 4 months old when I dragged him and his sensible (if not a little perturbed) father out into the ridiculously freezing temperatures and driving snow to a Christmas tree farm thirty miles away to pick out our trees. Because no, just stopping at one of the gazillions of roadside stands wasn't good enough.
It wasn't memorable enough. It wasn't fun enough. It just wasn't enough.
After all, this was Buggy Boy's first Christmas, and he was going to love it, dammit!
He did not love it. In fact, he hated it. I'm not kidding when I say it was absolutely freezing. And windy. And miserable. The wind and snow were so awful, we had to cart Buggy Boy around in his car seat just so he wouldn't keep getting smacked in the face with all the huge gusts.
He just sat there, strapped into his car seat, glaring at me over the collar of his snowsuit (which was too big and came up to his eyes, because heaven forbid anything should've gone right that day), while I hemmed and hawed over which tree would embody the rustic elegance of our dining room decor, and which would best suit the tasteful simplicity of our living room. I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure Justin was huddled behind a heap of pre-cut douglas firs trying to stay warm while he googled divorce lawyers on his phone.
Suffice it to say, that was not my finest moment.
This year, however, I think I'm going to do things a little differently. I'm streamlining my Christmas spirit, if you will.
I'll still decorate the house, because I like doing it. And I'll probably still talk Justin into two trees, because frankly, this house was built for two Christmas trees. But I'm really going to try to rein in the crazy this year, and avoid taking my entire family down with me.
I will not engage in my usual battle royale with the faux garland for ultimate banister dominance.
I'm opting out of Elf on the Shelf (Buggy Boy isn't really old enough. And who thought adding a nightly homework assignment for parents that lasts literally the entire Christmas season was a good idea, anyway?).
If the outside lights don't emit a warm, inviting glow that is both cheerfully festive and tastefully elegant, I'll get over it. To be honest, you can't see them from the road, anyway.
And Christmas breakfast may or may not consist of a box of doughnuts and some oven baked bacon while I snuggle with my Bug. Because this year, I'd actually like to enjoy my family and the memories I get to make with them.
Here's hoping your holiday season is full of simple pleasures and many drama-free memories!
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