I just got our first Christmas card yesterday which put me in a tailspin of Christmas card anxiety. We haven’t gotten our Christmas cards done. Or had the picture taken. Or gotten all the clothes. Or made the clothes that I haven’t been able to find in the store.
I woke up in a horrible panic at 5 am today wondering where the boys Christmas sweaters are. I bought them last Black Friday for $4.00 each, already deciding that our Christmas Outfit scheme a whole year later would be red and white (which amazingly enough we’ve never done before). I realized this morning that I haven’t seen Jasper’s sweater in quite some time.
Like a year.
I’m afraid to go look for it because that will launch a full scale panic attack that will end with me ripping the house apart and flipping out.
And then there is the matter of the older boys’ sweaters. Sweaters that might not even fit due to the fact that both my boys have grown 4 inches in the last year. I do know where York’s sweater is since I’ve been toting it to every store in Austin trying to find matching girls skirts. Guess what? The sweaters are a completely different shade of red than any skirt I found.
Which means I will be making skirts. Yippee!
But I found matching fabric and it was only $20 for enough to make all of us skirts. So that’s a bit of good news.
I won’t be making the skirts unless I find the sweaters first, though. What if I can’t find the sweaters? I have a real knack for losing things and it’s entirely possible that I completely lost at least one sweater. Now that I think about it I haven’t seen that York’s sweater since I was at the fabric store last week. What if I left it at there? Or it fell out in the parking lot? Oh my goodness, I need some smelling salts.
The funny thing is that I will eventually get all the outfits assembled and the pictures taken after listening to my children (and especially husband) bitch about how much they hate having pictures taken (Hey family! We do pictures every year and we will until I am dead, so just shut up!) We will get the cards done and sent out and many clueless friends will open them up and think that we are really on the ball.
If only they knew.
UPDATE on 12/6: I sewed four skirts after I wrote this post (still need to hem mine, though), and found all three sweaters. Jasper’s was wadded up at the bottom of his closet amongst all the cans of powdered milk. (Jasper’s closet is half food storage and half fabric stash.) And I found a sweater vest for Mister that sort of matches too. Not perfectly, so he’ll have to stand behind everyone. I’m sure I’m jinxing myself but I think we’re just about ready for family portraits.
Bless your sweet heart! But I always love your Christmas pictures, and I'm so glad you make such beautiful ones! Little did we know it caused such frantic angst!
Remember once upon a time you wrote a post about simplifying Christmas. I say skip the card this year!!
I've been traumatized since NOT getting a card last year. You must continue to stress until you meet my expectations. Then I can whine to my husband that we never do anything cool like Jennie does.
Get on it. Skip as much church as needed until its finished.
It makes me feel so much better to know you haven't even had your pictures taken. We at least have that done (just the kids this year, thank goodness). But the cards…probably won't get done until the week before Christmas. Oh well. You and I can enjoy opening each other's on the 28th.
You can just not panic and plan for Valentine cards instead?
I love it. Each year I tell James that I want to do Christmas cards,but as the time to make and finish all the arrangements gets closer I always back out.
I really enjoy getting other people's cards though, every child always looks so perfect and the entire family looks like they love each other.
Maybe that is why we never attempt it. My kids would most likely be pinching each other or making grumpy faces. I'm really glad that you are the one running around doing the perfect family Christmas cards and not me.