The Christmas Miracle of Moms

I don’t know how my Mom successfully pulled off Christmas year after year. Even with all her other duties she’d somehow someway make Christmas happen. I knew she was making tiny miracles happen, but I never fully understood until recently. The day after I got into to town my sisters and I were given a daunting task. My stepfather had apparently dropped the ball, and not gotten anyone Christmas or birthday gifts. That means in four days we had to buy Christmas gifts for seven siblings, three sibling in-laws, three nieces, and two nephews. We also have to get Christmas gifts for two siblings, one sibling in-law, and one niece. This doesn’t include our own Christmas/birthday shopping we had to do for each other. We’re into day two, and I’m about to snap. We are amazingly close to being finished, but it’s taken its toll. It’s difficult enough deciding what to get everyone what with thier vague Christmas lists and specific tastes. We also have to take in account budget concerns, balance practical and impractical, and good grief the wrapping, the endless, endless wrapping. Today was a particularly tough day because it meant we had to go to Toys R Us and Media Play. Both are on the bad side of town and both employee people who work at two speeds; slow and catatonic. At Toy R Us, I constantly found myself boxed in by people and their carts. It was like I would stumble into the middle of a high noon gunfight. Just moving around the store was quite similar to driving in LA. You move a few inches, but then the people in front of you have to stop so they can “Ooh” and “Aah” over the Spiderman Stunt Set. You’re suddenly weaving through the back alleys of bikes and Bratz dolls, doing a few hit and runs on discarded toys, and sideswiping old ladies carts just to reach the check out line. Yet this is something Mom would do every year. Of course she had a lot more time. She was also a seasoned pro and planned ahead. But she had to because she was also responsible for two separate family Christmas dinners. Wait, make that three family dinners, and three to four birthday parties. She made it look so easy, and she did it so well. I still don’t know how she did it without killing a few people. Here’s to my Mom and Mom’s around the world that help make Christmas...Christmas.