One last gasp for Christmas

So, yesterday morning I realized that, not only do I still have the Christmas decorations up, but I've started hanging some for Valentine's Day.  And then, it dawned on me that the Halloween pumpkins were still outside the front door.

I decided that it was high time I put my foot down.  We are NOT going to hang onto holidays long enough to do three at once.  So I sent Mister to throw the pumpkins away after Little Mister went to bed last night.  Then, the terrible mother I am told him the squirrels ate them, without a single qualm.  As it happens, given his recent Beatrix Potter obsession, that explanation went over rather well, but it was clear that if it were up to him it would still be too soon to let go of the pumpkins.  I sort of regret the decision to wait and buy them really close to Halloween, so they "wouldn't rot before the holiday."  I didn't realize that the "holiday" they wouldn't rot before was Mother's Day.

All set up for the Giving Tree Gift Swap- right down to the fake fire.

The reason I've not put away the Christmas decorations just yet is that we have a (now) annual tradition of swapping White Elephant items on the Twelfth Day of Christmas.  (Yep, that's a real thing, not just a goofy song.)

This year we were a bit late and tied it into a gently used gift swap we started for the kids last year- each family picks something they've finished with or found on Freecycle or at a thrift store, etc, and chooses one kid from the list to receive the item as a wrapped gift.  Re-using is the name of the game, and the kids have a BLAST opening gifts with their friends.  Ian insisted on taking the Bob the Builder fleece blanket that is part of his "haul" to bed with him.

In some ways, this event was almost more fun for him than Christmas, because he had the fun of getting a gift, the fun of giving a gift, but without the sleep deprivation, the overdose on sugar, or the need to "dress up" and "look cute."  (Naw, I'm kidding.  It wasn't more fun than Christmas, but it was WAAAAY more relaxed.)  And, apparently, when you're a small child, one gift is all you really need, as long as you have friends to play with after you open it. Let this be a lesson to all of us who buy more, more, and MORE trying to make Christmas "perfect" for our kids.

I did NOT make a King Cake, but Ian and I did make "dear little muffins" together, which delighted him, and everyone else brought food to share and it was quite the party.  Ian begged me to make him into a Roly-Poly-Ian-Pudding, but I drew the line and refused.  He got over it.  And, for my part, I'm excited that now we've finished that, we can pack away the tree and the Santas and move on to the mushy stuff!  Bring on the LOVE!