Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas season has been magical.  Finn loves the lights, the tree, the music, the stories, the movies, and Fergus the Elf on the Shelf (who was moved more than once at 2am when I woke up and realized he wasn't moved yet).  Tonight as I picked him up to put him to bed, he wrapped his arms and legs around me, put his head on my shoulder and let me just hold him.  Then I said, "Merry Christmas, Finnegan" and he pulled his head back and said, "Merry Christmas to you, Mommy, I love you."

Best moment of the day.

We had a good day, but it could have been better and easier. I learned a lot today about how to manage a day like Christmas with a toddler.  Again, it wasn't a bad day, but it felt a lot more difficult than it needed to, if only I'd thought ahead.  I'm going to put it all in this post so I remember it next year.

The very first present he opened was a tool bench from my assistant - he immediately wanted to put it together and play with it.  My dad tried to argue with him, and that quickly led to tears, until I stepped in and told Finn he could play with whatever he wanted.  So Finn played while we opened gifts, and then he opened something else and played, and then he started to get grumpy, as it was now 1.5 hours after he normally eats breakfast and food was no where in sight.  My mom had planned a yummy post-presents breakfast of french toast casserole, eggs and bacon.  Perfect for an adult Christmas morning, but not when there's a toddler involved.  I grabbed him a snack, which he ate while busily working with his tools.  When we finally did eat breakfast, he wasn't really hungry for anything but bacon, but the break from gifts was a welcome one.  After breakfast, my parents kept pressuring him to open presents, and it was driving me crazy.  He was having a wonderful time, and we weren't working on any sort of timeline...I kept asking them them to just stop, but they just wouldn't listen.  He opened his last gift at 2pm, and played with everything, and that was just perfect.

Tool bench

Virginia football!

I then took him for a quiet time drive, and he napped just a little, and then we came home and enjoyed Christmas movies and more playing with his tool bench and his rocket launcher. At one point he came running at me and gave me a huge hug, "I love my rocket, Mommy!  Thank you for getting it for me."  I did remind him that it was from his Aunt Heidi, but I'm still pretty sure I'm getting the credit for this one.  We had a lovely Christmas dinner that (for a change) was early enough for Finn to be happy, and then our sweet, quiet bedtime.

Rocket launcher in action

So here's what I would have done differently, and what I plan to do next year.  First, I'll let him open a few more presents early.  All the gifts that get mailed by friends and family will be opened as they come, and we'll open a couple on Christmas Eve.  Then, on Christmas morning we'll have Santa gifts, followed by serving a breakfast of finger foods that we can eat while opening the rest of the gifts.  If my parents are here, I'll tell them that there is no rush on opening gifts, and that they are not to badger him to open more if he's happily playing with something.  This morning would have been fabulous if we'd had food while we opened gifts and I'd not had to intervene every time my parents tried to get him to open more presents.

I'll also make sure that he naps on Christmas Eve as well.  The drive today was a lesson learned from yesterday, and while all I really wanted was to nap myself, the drive was the only way to get him to have any sleep at all, and it made the rest of the day so much better.

This morning, Finn was disappointed to learn that Santa had come and gone and he didn't see him.  It never occurred to me that Finn would think he was going to see Santa, so next year I'll make sure he really understands.  He did cheer up a little when I told him that Santa had left him presents, and eaten  all his cookies.

What do you mean, Santa is gone?

I wanted to see him.

He left me presents?

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed some quality time with those who mean the most to you.  And for those of you still waiting, I hope that next year brings you your own miracles.