This year, we packed up the car and traveled to west TN for Christmas. I haven’t spent a Christmas in Jackson since before I was married. It’s hard enough to split holidays between your family and your spouse’s family. But, try having divorced parents who live 6 hours away from each other. There is no way to see everyone at one break.
We stopped in Rockwood for the night on our way to Jackson to visit my sister and grandparents. It was a very strange feeling to be celebrating without mom there with us. I’m certain it will be less strange as the years move forward but this one was a tough holiday. AR did get some quality play time with my grandparents which I believe helped to ease the pain.
On Sunday, we were off to Jackson. We all survived the long car ride and were happy to be there. I got to visit with some of my family that I had not seen in many years. Because I grew up in Jackson, all of my childhood Christmases were with these people. I loved having Clint and Anna Ruth peek into my past.
Christmas morning was a fun time with Anna Ruth seeing what Santa brought her. Keep in mind that she is only 16 months old. The picture where she is sitting in front of a tea set and 2 baby dolls is all that Santa brought. We had a few gifts wrapped for her to open, but for the most part it was a very modest Christmas. Clint and I only felt a twinge of guilty (and I mean for like, 2 seconds) when we would see pictures of other kids Christmas morning “spreads.” But, we quickly snapped out of it. Y’all, she isn’t even 2. She has no idea what presents are all about and could care less how many she gets. Heck, she doesn’t even get into opening gifts. We made a conscious decision not go all out and buy gifts that she wouldn’t care about or play with often. She already has a room full of toys and our house is not big by any means. Storage becomes a huge issue when you start accumulating children’s toys. So, we asked our family to give to her college fund. When she is 18, she is going to be way more grateful for that college fund than she will be about a Tickle Me Elmo bought in 2013. Plus, why would we want to out shadow the real reason we celebrate?
I pray that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas being with those you love and remembering that if it were not for our Savior, we would all be lost!
