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Alison Konrad

New to the Atlanta Hipster Mom scene as of June 2006, Alison Konrad is a Mom's Mom, Mom-About-Town kind of gal with an arsenal of diving-in-head-first experience in navigating the sometimes complicated World of Motherhood, and the trials and tribulations of juggling the identities of being a working...

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O Come All Ye Faithful

A Holiday Retrospective

Well, the last holiday guest just pulled out of our driveway.  The boy is napping, the husband is watching a movie, the train Santa left under the tree is motionless – at least for the next two hours, and peace on earth has gently landed like a blanket over the roof of the house.  The jingle jangle of the holidays has come to a close, and now I can sip the rest of my coffee and reflect upon the past week’s events.

What a week it has been!  A literal tour of gathering after gathering of family and friends has just transpired that in a prior life would have catapulted me into the nearest loony bin. Delicious feast upon feast and cocktail after cocktail were consumed, much to the delight of the makers of Tums and Advil.  All I could do to not stress out about the itinerary of events was to just shut my eyes tightly, focus on the boy’s schedule and keep moving, with as little thought, and as much holiday cheer as possible.  Was I wearing the right outfits? It didn’t matter.  Did our guests feel welcome?  If they didn’t – it wasn’t for lack of trying on my part.  Did I consume one too many cocktails? Who was counting?  Were our gifts suitable for each receiver?  It is too late to worry about that now.  Was I gracious enough? Generous enough?  Thoughtful enough?  Surely that was the case.  But, honestly, none of these thoughts really matter to me as much as the heavenly look upon my son’s face as his eyes feasted upon the bounty of gifts Santa left for him under the tree on Christmas morning. 

It was priceless.  The proof is in the video.  The grandstands in my living room were filled to capacity with family that had arrived Christmas morning to view the spectacle of our sons premiere of I-know-what-a-toy-is Christmas firsthand.  Their loving gazes in the background focused intently upon one little boy, with their hands over their mouths to conceal any explosion of joy that might unintentionally distract our son from his initial toy perusal.  I honestly don’t think anyone took a breath for the first five minutes of his entrance into the room.    And, after thoughtfully considering each gift on display, our son’s fists clenched tightly against his belly, sometimes standing, sometimes squatting for a closer look, he reaches for a fireman’s hat and places it upon his head with a giant smile on his face.  The crowd went WILD!  The following two hours could be described quite similarly, a roar of cheers and laughter upon the discovery of each new gift, in a room filled with love.

I am certain that I haven’t felt such delight for Christmas morning since I was a kid myself.  And so, my Christmas eyes have been changed forever.   Gone are the days that my husband and I would solve the family holiday dilemma by catching a flight to faraway places on Christmas Day to enjoy a vacation for two.  Gone are the heated conversations over how to make everyone happy.  No longer will I be able to view the holiday shuffle as the pain in the ass of yesteryear.  I would host Christmas Day again and again, every day for the rest of my life just to be a part of that pure innocence and joy upon my son’s face.  The shower of love for and from my family that rained upon my living room can rain on my parade anytime any day.  

O come all ye faithful – you are always welcome.  And most importantly, Thank you for coming!