By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3
I love the week after Thanksgiving. We’re still fat and happy from an inappropriately sized meal, and it’s not close enough to Christmas to start the full-scale panick about getting everything done in time. But once this week has passed, the Christmas crunch begins and it feels like a mad dash toward the end of the year.
Sometimes all the hustle and bustle sucks the fun out of December. So I’ve rewritten one of my favorite Julie Andrews songs from The Sound of Music. It’s not that I don’t like the same things Julie Andrews does. I think raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are quite nice. But a list of favorite things is personal, so I’m going to mentally sing my own version in the weeks ahead when things get rushed and chaotic. Perhaps you, too, should write down “a few of your favorite things” and then make time to enjoy them during this last month of the year.
(Here’s where you start humming the tune of “These Are A Few of My Favorite Things”. Ready?)
Snowflakes on front lawns and kids in their mittens
Hours to linger in warm, busy kitchens
Boxes from brown trucks and doorbells that ding
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cards in the mailbox and white twinkling lights
Hot cups of spiced tea and cookie delights
Pictures of children that tug at heartstrings
These are a few of my favorite things.
Laundry that’s folded and clean floors that glisten
Free time to sleep late and children who listen
Ribbons and paper and all the wrappings
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the bills come, when the kids fight,
When I’m feeling mad,
I simply remember
The best of December
And then I don’t feeeeeeel so bad.
Gwen Rockwood is a mom to three great kids, wife to one cool guy, a newspaper columnist and co-owner of nwaMotherlode.com. To read previously published installments of The Rockwood Files, click here. To check out Gwen’s book, “Reporting Live from the Laundry Pile: The Rockwood Files Collection,” click HERE.
