with the rush and bustle of the impending holiday season, we've been ruminating on how many people get caught up in the to-do's, the what-to-buy's, and the do-this-do-that's. this weekend was the perfect lesson in letting go, of embracing time without any major plans, of taking it s.l.o.w. of thinking about the real reason for the season, which in our family is family, caring, and taking caramel. so we did just that- a little bit of homemade cheesecake with blueberry sauce made by johnny, a serious breakfast of biscuits and gravy, some crafting and wine drinking on the couch, snuggling under quilts, the occasional bash in the face by a sibling's fist, and driving around listening to christmas music, ruminating.because that's what we do around here. we ruminate.
so as part of our plan to get to the real roots of the holiday season, a dear friend and i packed up our six little ones into our vans this morning and went to the local nursing home armed with bags of homemade (sort of) christmas cards and sun-catchers for each of the elderly peeps chillin' in their chairs. (i wish i could take credit for this amazing idea but it was all shannon...i would never have the balls to take six kids four and under into a quiet nursing home if it weren't for her!) the kids were great (except for that little incident with the nursing home christmas tree...the broken glass...oh, and the poop covered teddy bear- but that's another story for another day!) and the peeps seemed to genuinely love their cards and catchers. i pretty much felt like the biggest hippies ever busting into the activity room, babes on hips with our brood doling out the homemade goods. there were some serious smiles that made it all worth it- the eyes lighting up at the babies doing good. the good old souls admiring the good new souls. but it also made me realize that for some, growing old is not graceful, it is not peaceful, and it is not fun. the poor woman screaming at our kids "stop picking your nose! stop picking your nose...that is GROSS!". it would be easy to write her off as a grumpy old soul but she needed her sun-catcher too, even if it was covered in snots and baby drool and dried bran flakes. today made me remember my grandfathers (both gone now) and all my other loved ones who have spent time in rehabs and homes. the workers do the best that they can, and most of the time they do a good job. but a day is long in a nursing home, and hard.
so we sang silent night and rudolph.
what else can you do, really? we stood there with our little children and we said hello and we gave our treats and we sang. it was nothing, and it was everything.
