It’s here. It got here quickly. Too quickly. The first Christmas without the hunt for the current toy trend or must-have, hard-to-find makeup palette. Not even endless whines and bargaining for an electronic device upgrade. No telling myself to just charge it and pay it off when the bill comes . . . knowing that I never will.
This year there will be no assembly required. No cramping, getting up off the floor looking for that Allen wrench. I won’t have to scramble for batteries or charge them. Not feeling the pressure to come up with post-worthy antics for those (expletive), I mean adorable, elves.
No begging them to go.to.sleep. so Santa can come or mumbling bad words under my breath trying to liberate a toy from its packaging. There will be no struggle to drag a plastic Jeep up the stairs while they sleep. 
Now that our kids are older and this Santa’s helper’s job is done much earlier than in years past, I find myself glancing out the window late at night on Christmas Eve. Looking for those homes with little ones with one light still on. Knowing they are still wrapped up in the chaos of creating Christmas morning magic.
Take a deep breath. Take a break from that “to do” list and enjoy. Enjoy it all. Every loud, messy, chaotic moment of trying to make everything perfect. Perfect or not, you’re making memories to cherish. Merry Christmas, Mommas. You are going to miss this.
