I had to leave work early today to pick Alex up. I should have probably gone back to work since it was only 3:30, but the thought of burning through $7 worth of gas for an hour and a half hardly seemed worth it. I went home and whipped up the meal that my kids could eat every single day-spaghetti and meatballs. I assigned some chores and cleaned up the kitchen from the weekend's mess.
Money has been tight in the household this year, a lament I'm sure is all too familiar to so many these days. I've had to slash frivolous spending, and one of the first cuts was school lunches. Do you have any idea how much a meal purchased at school is these days? Three dollars if the child just takes the basic tray, much much more if they order a la carte, which my kids do with reckless abandon. No more. I was racking up $150 per month at a minimum, and that just won't fly from here on out. So that they don't feel deprived, I'm providing them with their favorite snacks and homemade cookies and brownies.
After supper, I decided to get some baking done. I decided to make Easter cutouts and ginger snaps. The boys settled in front of the television, Annelise sat at the counter reading a book. Drew popped a CD into our five disc changer. I became absorbed in the dough making process, listening to the banter between the boys and enjoying the task at hand. After Drew's CD was finished, the Elf soundtrack queued. We all love the opening track by Louis Prima, especially when Alex sings the line, "All over town, all over town, all over town." No one got up to turn off the music in spite of it's seasonal inappropriateness. The video game din that is usually so oppressive in the family room was turned down to a whisper. The Christmas music continued as I rolled out cookies.
"It's a marshmallow world in the winter..."
"I'll be home for Christmas..."
"Silent night, holy night..."
I realized that I'm normally so overwrought with stress during December that I can't ever enjoy moments like that during the holidays. There are presents to buy and wrap; social obligations; money to spend, spend, spend. I felt peaceful last night for the first time in a while. I was relaxed as I rolled out the dough, made the frosting and iced the cookies. A heavy wet snow was falling outside, adding to the atmosphere.
Four Christmas CD's played in their entirety, then Steve came home and wondered why we were listening to it. He tolerated it for a few minutes, and then we all settled down to watch Jim Gaffigan wax eloquently about food. And that was a nice way to end a Monday night. Thanks to Jenn at Juggling Life for bringing this clip to my attention. Try and get the Hot Pockets jingle out of your head after watching this.
