We flew from Alaska to Colorado, and most days it’s still just my kids and me trying to stay sane together. Occasional attention from our extended family refreshes my awareness of how cute the kids are.
We’re a bit burnt out, but I don’t think it’s just from spending so much time with the kids. It’s being with kids in someone else’s cluttered house. I’ve found that the less stuff I have in my house, the easier it is the be a good dad. Reducing the noise reduces the noise, so to speak.
Aspiring to be a minimalist, really I’m just childproofing, and childproofing is really just making your kids or grandkids a priority in your house. The priorities we all put first when looking to buy or build a house to begin with. Our main excuse to travel thousands of miles for the holidays.
The rest of the family puts plenty of energy into the kids, getting presents, Buying Christmas Magic as Mariah puts it. And I think every kid deserves a magical Christmas morning. I spent most of the day yesterday shopping and sneaking things into the shed. But when a good chunk of the glory goes to the guy from the North Pole, and the kids are surrounded by new and wonderful toys, do they feel more loved than if we’d just spent all that shopping time with them? Let alone the time we spent working to earn the money to do the shopping?
We’ve been contemplating moving back to our little cabin in the woods, where neither of us would have to grovel for childcare, to stay sane and work full time, to pay the bills—not least of which is childcare. A circle of giving, nicely put.
If time is money, and money buys Christmas Magic, why not skip the middle-man?