Today I had a fabulous day that started out with me in tears. There are just days where I miss my sisters and mom. The day after Thanksgiving is one of them. I'm not sure why exactly. We didn't grow up with any definite traditions- no Black Friday madness or anything like that. But I just remember the feeling of that day always involved Christmas Spirit. It was like we opened the page of a book declaring the Christmas Season upon us and the festive nature enveloped us. Sometimes we cleaned the house and put out decorations. Sometimes we watched Christmas movies like Miracle on 34th Street or White Christmas. (Which incidentally has a whole silly song about sisters that I love to sing.) Sometimes we went out for a little bit of wandering in the mall and having Barnie's coffee- Santa's White Christmas- the official flavor of Christmas as declared by me. (Also the only downside to living in TN at Christmastime is the lack of Santa's White Christmas Barnie's coffee- FL friends feel free to mail me some!
So after a brief tearful meltdown, and then instructions to my husband about not looking at me like I'm a weirdo when I'm crying about things that make no sense to him (he claims to have been marveling at the difference between men and women- I told him marvel on his own time- when your wife is crying you must look upon her with empathy and pat her hand and say "there, there") I decided I needed some girl time with my best girl. So I picked out some festive clothes for Em and we set off into the Black Friday world with no real pressure to accomplish one specific thing, but hoping to get a little shopping done while shaking off the blues.
Without even trying to we created a new tradition. I'm sure we'll be doing this for years to come. It was the first year Emma was old enough to be trusted with seeing the other family members gifts. (I think. I hope.) We giggled a lot about how silly the boys are and how much fun we were having without them. I told her the story of my tearful meltdown and how daddy shook his head at me in disbelief, and she said- "Oh mom, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen you with Aunt Anne- I know why you need your sister." Then later I found this really, ridiculously good deal on a case with 45 eye shadows. For $5. And I loved it. I was about to put it in the cart-
"Mom, who are you getting that for?"
"Um, well, I guess I was getting it for me." (she nods knowingly)
"That's what I thought. Guess you better put it back, huh?"
(gulp)"Yep, guess so. Thanks for keeping me honest."
Turns out the sisterhood I needed was available in my daughter. Amazing.
So after a brief tearful meltdown, and then instructions to my husband about not looking at me like I'm a weirdo when I'm crying about things that make no sense to him (he claims to have been marveling at the difference between men and women- I told him marvel on his own time- when your wife is crying you must look upon her with empathy and pat her hand and say "there, there") I decided I needed some girl time with my best girl. So I picked out some festive clothes for Em and we set off into the Black Friday world with no real pressure to accomplish one specific thing, but hoping to get a little shopping done while shaking off the blues.
Without even trying to we created a new tradition. I'm sure we'll be doing this for years to come. It was the first year Emma was old enough to be trusted with seeing the other family members gifts. (I think. I hope.) We giggled a lot about how silly the boys are and how much fun we were having without them. I told her the story of my tearful meltdown and how daddy shook his head at me in disbelief, and she said- "Oh mom, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen you with Aunt Anne- I know why you need your sister." Then later I found this really, ridiculously good deal on a case with 45 eye shadows. For $5. And I loved it. I was about to put it in the cart-
"Mom, who are you getting that for?"
"Um, well, I guess I was getting it for me." (she nods knowingly)
"That's what I thought. Guess you better put it back, huh?"
(gulp)"Yep, guess so. Thanks for keeping me honest."
Turns out the sisterhood I needed was available in my daughter. Amazing.
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