Tuesday, December 8, 2009

My Grownup Christmas List

My family has always been a Christmas list making family. We had no family nearby when I was growing up, so lists were the way to help out my grandparents and aunt. Lists helped them know us a little better since we didn't see them often enough during the year.

I'm at the point in my life that if someone asks me what I'd like for Christmas, I don't have a good answer. Don't get me wrong; there are things that I'd like to have. Some things just can't be purchased and some I need to acquire on my own. So here's my Grownup Christmas List.

1. Patience. See, can't really shop for patience. With four children, my supply of patience is rather limited. But I want more patience. I want to be able to tolerate the noise level of my house without feeling like the Grinch ("oh the noise, noise, noise, noise, NOISE!"). I want to be able to tie that knot at the end of my frazzled rope instead of falling to the ground, defeated by my own lack of patience.

2. Time for myself. I've never been good at taking time for myself and really enjoying it. There has always been that nagging in the back of my mind that I'm taking time away from my family. In all honesty, that is pretty dumb on my part since everything I do every day is for my family and I spent 99.5% of my time with them. So I'd like to do things for myself without the guilt.

3. A vacation with my husband. Doug and I haven't been alone together for more than one night in over 6 years. I don't even think we've had 24 hours alone together in over 6 years. Marriages, especially ones that include children, need TLC. We've been a part of each others lives for almost 20 years, but in the last 9, we've mostly been parents and not much of Doug and Kristin. Eventually our kids will grow up and move out and start their own lives, and it would be nice if he and I remembered why we fell in love in the first place so that we can enjoy our lives together. I don't want to wake up one day in the future and find out that the only thing we had going for us was our kids.

4. Financial stability. That pretty much speaks for itself. I think everyone I know would wish for this, especially in these unsure times. Enough said.

So there you have it. My Grownup Christmas List. What's yours?

5 comments:

Thia said...

Heyyyyyyyy, you stole my list!

AndreAnna said...

How cute is the new header!?!?

My list includes: calorie-free chocolate and booze, a unicorn, money, and a goat.

creative kerfuffle said...

i love the new header! very nice.
my grown up list would have to include a stupid job. i say stupid in a totally pouty childish way because while i understand the need for financial stability i have gotten used to this staying at home thing. granted, i do not have toddlers home w/ me all day : )

Anonymous said...

I'd have to go for patience, the ability to drop any baby weight I gain in a very, very short amount of time, money. More damn money.

Loving your new header!!!

Astarte said...

I would like to be a kinder person. I have thoughts in my head that I have to squelch a LOT. Also, I'd like to be able to overlook things that make me angry, like my SIL, and just move on without caring one way or the other. Financial stability is a good one, definintely.