"I'd be merry but I'm Hebrew..."

(Just kidding, y'all! I'm merry and Hebrew! Anyway...)

Things (that were supposed to be read) On Thursday (but I went to bed instead, so I am finishing this blog post tonight, Saturday. Eh. It happens.)

...It's true. I am a Jew who married a Catholic and for the past 10+ years, I have been part of the madness known as Christmas! My years of being able to relax once Hanukkah is over are long gone. As our family continues to expand, the crazier it gets! This year, the tasks have been pared back a bit. The cousins are doing a group outing instead of exchanging gifts, so that's a large number of present-picking off of our plates! But this year, we're adding in classroom parties and teachers/aides/bus driver gifts, and as a first-time school mama, it's a little overwhelming! I want to give thoughtful gifts that everyone will enjoy but won't break the bank! I am trying something on the creative side this year (and by creative, I mean I stole it off of Pinterest!) and if it works, I'll post some pictures!!

...We are still contending with PJ's post-school craziness! Finding the balance between how long he should nap, what time he should go to bed, and how much nap will be too much nap has been a challenge. There are days that he comes home from school, clearly exhausted. When he takes a nap, he has trouble falling asleep at night, and if he doesn't nap, he's certifiable from 5:00pm on, but falls right to sleep at bedtime. Yesterday, he seemed to tired at naptime that I let him sleep, so of course, he was up until 10! Today, I woke him after an hour, so hopefully it was enough to refresh him but not so much it will keep him up. (Note: That was wishful thinking. He's still awake and he was tucked into bed 40 minutes ago. Epic. Fail.) Either way, fatigue just seems like one factor in his after-school nonsense. After that, I have no. earthly. idea.

...I mentioned before that PJ is into Monster's Inc.! He loves the scene at the beginning when Sully is being guided through a "workout" by Mike! (this is where I jumped back in to finish, y'all) There is a part where Sully drops to the ground, pretending to hide from a kid who has woken up. PJ loves to imitate this part! It's really, really cute, but he looks like someone Nancy Kerrigan-ed his little knees! They are all bruised up! I shudder to think of what his teachers are thinking when they help him use the potty and pull his pants down! I had a kiddo who was already as boy as you can get, and now he's trying to be part monster. Oy. Vey.

...Pete's sister Shelly hosted her yearly "Cousins Cookie Party" last night! She foolishly  bravely hosted 15 out of 18 of the cousins (holy crap, y'all.) for an annual gathering to decorate cookies and enjoy the start of the winter break. It was a cyclone of cupcakes, M&M's, laughter and sugar rushes! It was the first time that PJ was old enough to sit at the table with the big kids and decorate his cupcake (with a liberal dose of help from his adored cousin Riley!). He was basking in the love from all of his cousins and, as always, my heart was so full of how lucky my sweet boy is. He was also basking in the large train that Shelly has around her tree! In fact, he was under her tree, derailing her train, when I snagged this shot:



Love it.

...There are so many things that I have been wanting to write about and get off of my heart, but I want to make sure that I can do justice to the subject matter. It's not that anyone really reads this or that what I have to say it so important- it's actually because of that I want to get it right. I don't want to be another insignificant voice babbling in a way that can cause damage, so I will carefully gather my thoughts before I spill them out, in sharp contrast to the way I usually do things on this blog.

...Christmas is almost here! Time to get back to my To-Do list! :-)

2 comments

Donna said...

I read your blog. It matters. Keep posting.

Brie Latini said...

Donna, thank you so much for your kindness! I am so glad you're here!