I was talking to a parent at my son’s school and they brought their son to school on friday when there was no school.  They’d seen that there was going to be no school, but they didn’t really connect it with *today*.  So they pulled up and wondered where everyone was.  Their son got to  join them at their financial advisor meeting.

I talked to someone else who had a birthday party for their daughter from 11-1:00.  And one of the kid’s who rsvp’d didn’t show, and the party happened and then at 1:00 this kid and his Mom come rushing in, he’s skipped out of hockey to be there, present in hand, except they showed up at the end time and not the start time.  She’d written it down wrong.

And then I had my own.  Yesterday I was in the Starbucks drive-thru line-up and it was long with much inching forward.  There was even a police van in the line-up, I guess they’re going high-end now.  And I’m getting close to the window and realize I haven’t ordered.  I knew I wanted an eggnog latte, but hadn’t actually stopped at the box to ask anyone.

And then I became convinced that everyone is losing it.  Or at least me and some other parents.  But I’m trying to keep it easy this year.  HoneyBunny and I made the painful decision that after being hardcore fresh tree people we were going to go fake.  We’ve been frequenting the family tree lot near our house, a nice bunch of folks who bring up trees from the valley for people to buy, but we decided we’ll see them for a wreath this year.  We’ve been there in -10c temeratures, pouring rain, you name it.  And we thought, nope, not this year.  We have a baby and lots going on, we’re going to do it easy.  More drinking of the eggnog and spirits time, less tree management time. 

So we went looking for the perfect fake tree.  We bought one put it up and then took it back.  And then we looked some more.  And then we bought a second one.  When we put it up I realized that self-shaping means, “get shaping the tree bitch”.  So there’s been plenty of time spent on tree management, but that’s ok because it’s not going to drop needles all over the floor even though someone says daily, “have you watered that damn tree today??”  Or it has better not.

For holiday coping strategies I was really happy to see the Nia Unplugged DVD.  I want to find a class like this.  It’s a dance/movement kind of workout but not like the frenetic jumping around 80′s aerobics style.  It’s more like african, low to ground, booty moving stuff.  It looks so fun.  And then they throw in some martial arts kicks and upper body punches with strong “huh” sounds, man, it would seriously tackle the tension in my shoulders.  It would seriously help get my ya-ya’s out.

The other day I did the Yoga Today free class that covered the 5 Tibetan Rites, which I’d read about but hadn’t really clicked with.  This time i made notes.  The next morning I woke up feeling cranky and stiff and generally unbalanced.  I didn’t have much time so I did the 5 Tibetans.  It took 15 minutes and wow, did that ever shift my energy.  I was ready to get a jump on Christmas stuff instead of going back to bed.

The next morning I woke up feeling lousy again and was too sore from doing the 5 Tibetans to do them again.  So I did the Vikasa podcast that I found through iTunes.  It was a nice gentle class,  the man who teaches it has a soft voice and Indian accent.  I usually do more energetic yoga, but this was such a perfect break.  I did it in my jammies with a coffee close by.  That ones a keeper.

But the other thing that will help get me through this season, even if there are more Starbucks mishaps, is that Leo slept through the night last night.  Right after his 5th month b-day, he pulled it off.  I’m so happy.  Of course I also spent the night after 2:00 a.m. checking the clock every hour or two wondering what was going on.  But did I care?  No way, i was lying in bed.  And it may not last, and that’s ok, but boy I may not need additional hits of Starbucks to get through December if he’s going to sleep like this.