Slowing down the holiday hamster wheel

The Christmas season is often a blur to me. The period of time between Thanksgiving and New Years flies by seemingly before I can blink.
This year has been different.

This is what the truck looked like when it was half-way packed.

For Thanksgiving, instead of our traditional drive to East Texas to spend time with family, we went camping. We drove to Glen Rose State Park to see the dinosaur tracks. Adam's godparents brought their RV and we brought our tent and just about everything but the kitchen sink.  We packed long johns, extra socks, hats, coats, and gloves.  We said we were prepared for the cold.  I was not prepared for the cold. The first night the temperature got down below freezing and I was wearing everything I had in my sleeping bag under blankets in the tent and still cursing because I was so cold. The kids were sleeping peacefully. Claire was snoring soundly in her sleeping bag and Paul was enjoying sleeping in my part of the bed. (He was cold.)  I was absolutely miserable and considered leaving in the middle of the night. I didn't.
The next two nights we left our space heater on in the tent, so we were actually warm-ish. During the days we went hiking, sat by the fire, and enjoyed being away from everything.  Overall, it was enjoyable, and funny memories were made.
Two weeks later, we had the beginning of Icepocalypse. It seemed that the weathermen were being overly dramatic at first, but since it's been a full week since it began and we're still sliding on the ice, I guess there was some truth to their predictions.
Solid ice outside means that we've stayed inside.  We were home-bound for four days. This actually wasn't a bad thing.  I was able to take a breath, read a book, clean up clutter, and get Christmas cards ordered. I've been baking banana bread to cover my tuition at seminary this semester and got at least 30 loaves baked. The kids had uninterrupted play for days on end. Luckily, as cabin fever was starting to set in, the ice started clearing away.

Jumping on an ice trampoline.

The ice has humbled me. I have been forced to walk slowly and steadily. I have been forced to use what I have at home instead of running out to the store. For the most part, we kept the TV off and the kids played with toys they hadn't seen in months. During Christmas when I'm just running around with my to-do lists, it was nice to be forced to sit still.  I spent an entire day mostly sitting by the fire crocheting, reading, and getting up to bake or help a kid.  It was wonderful.
I've been listening to our hamster, Snouts Brownie, running in his hamster wheel. He doesn't do it all day, every day. Sometimes he gets off the wheel and explores his world. Both the ice and Snouts have been good reminders for me that sometimes it's okay to step off the hamster wheel of busy-ness and just be.

Human BEings, not Human DOings

Christmas and Thanksgiving are coming! Christmas and Thanksgiving are coming! Christmas and Thanksgiving are coming!

If I'm not careful, the holidays will whiz by without me looking up from my to-do list.

We're packing for a camping trip. Rather than drive to East Texas for Thanksgiving, we're going tent camping instead. That means instead of packing a few clothes and books we also have to pack blankets, sleeping bags, food, cooking utensils, and clothes and books. We've been getting ready for this trip for longer than we will be gone.

Meanwhile, I'm organizing all our holiday shopping so I can spread it out and not have to buy everything on one pay check.

And I'm still working two part-time jobs.

And I'm trying to find time to be an attentive mother and wife.

And I'm trying to take some time for myself.

And I'm trying to tackle that mound of laundry that just won't go away.

And I've got to take a dog to the vet.

And I'm writing a book.

Obviously there are just too many tasks to be completed each day. As efficient as I am, it will never get done.

Yesterday, time stood still as the kids and I visited a dying friend. Claire and Paul wanted to tell him all about the exercises they know, "Look at this! Jumping Jacks!" Our friend wanted to teach them a few things about local geography and baby animals. "What's a baby dove called? A squab. What are the three forks of the Trinity River?"  (You'll have to Google that one because when I looked it up it said we have four forks.)

True to myself, I made the kids bring entertainment items to amuse themselves with while we sat with our friend. I try to fill each moment of the kids' lives with productive activities. "Here's Battleship! It teaches you math! Claire, bring your crochet materials and let's chain stitch!" We didn't use any of that.

Instead, we attempted to sit still and talk with our friend. Sitting still for me included sitting cross-legged on the floor.  Sitting still for the kids meant climbing on me, doing leg lifts, standing on their heads, jumping, talking non-stop, and aggravating each other.

Entering the final days of his life, our friend is still patient with the children. A retired school teacher, he was still trying to teach. And I was trying to do, do, do.

We were there several hours and eventually I stopped doing. I sat by the front door and watched the birds come and go from the feeders. The kids happily began an instructional workout. When I stopped doing, everything calmed down.

His wife always tells me, "God created us to be human BEings, not human DOings."

This holiday season, I'm going to try my best to BE instead of DO. I'm going to try to remember to breathe and recognize the miracle of life. I'm going to recognize that there will always be more to do. I'm going to try to sit with the kids and just be.