“Christmas expectations…”

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Shared by Breanne Smedley

For as long as we’ve been together, Brett and I have celebrated Christmas morning away from home.

My parents.
His parents.
Once, in Hawaii.

So this year, we were actually surprised when we realized that we had no “plans” for Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

We have plans to celebrate Christmas with all sides of the family, but that doesn’t start until tomorrow.

“What should we do?”
“What should we eat?”

We had an opportunity in front of us.

To create new traditions.

“What memories do we want Charlee to grow up with?”

Woah, all of a sudden I felt a ton of pressure.

I want to create magical memories.
Traditions that Charlee will grow up wanting to recreate with her family.

Then, the perfectionist bug started to creep in.

We need to bake all the cookies!
We need matching pajamas!
We need a Christmas Eve feast!
We need Christmas morning brunch!

It can all feel really overwhelming.

Past experiences tell me that as soon as I start placing expectations on things, I should brace to be disappointed.

So, we just let the holiday be what it was.

We felt like making street tacos for Christmas Eve dinner.

So we did, and they were awesome!

Brett and I worked out together early on Christmas morning, then waited by the glow of the Christmas tree for Charlee to wake up.

We both jumped and ran upstairs to get her the moment we thought she might be awake.

We spent the morning unwrapping and reading the books that Santa brought.

We made Christmas breakfast of all our favorite foods that we rarely eat.

Salmon Lox Bagels.
Cinnamon French Toast.

We lazed around.
FaceTimed and messaged with all the family.
Took a couple of naps.
Watched movies.
Took an hour-long walk outside.

We made fish and chips for Christmas dinner.
Ate tons of treats.
(Which makes me happy to have my GRIT fam to get me back on track after the holidays..)

Who knows if any of these things will become a tradition that we do every year.

Except for one.

The time spent together.

Whether it’s doing nothing or doing everything.

I will look back at this Christmas and remember collecting rocks with Charlee on our walk.
Snuggling on the couch.
Having Charlee “read” her books to us and her baby doll.
Being grateful for all we have, and all we’ve experienced this year.

As soon as I was able to let go of the expectations of Christmas.

I could truly enjoy it for what it was.

A special time to relax, be thankful for what we’ve been blessed and cherish each other’s company.
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