As I edit adorable…

As I edit adorable holiday photos of children, I keep thinking about various folks I know who would like to raise children themselves, but for one reason or another, this has not happened yet. I know for a lot of child-wanting folks, the holidays are a particularly hard time -- our society deluges us with images of happy children reveling in the holiday season. I know back when I desperately wanted kids, and Kevin adamantly did not, I had a lot of images in my head of the charm of making cookies with my beautiful, well-behaved children, bringing home a tree, hanging lights and ornaments. It was sort of torture, those images.

I'm just pausing to report from the other side that there is precious little adorableness in the actuality. I mean, it's there, I admit. The photos aren't completely manufactured. But for every minute of charm and holiday glee, there's at least thirty-to-sixty minutes of managing over-excited, nay, frenzied little monkeys. Yesterday, we decorated gingerbread houses, got a tree, lit and decorated it. And that pretty much exhausted both of the adults in this household. There were moments of fun, but there was also a lot of taking deep breaths and trying not to yell at the children who were now hitting each other in their excitement. Or hitting us. Or bursting into tears because we can't decorate the tree right. this. second. Or smearing icing into the upholstery.

Anyway, this is probably small comfort. But really, imagine your house filled with so much noise that you want to weep, and maybe it'll help you get through what seems an over-quiet holiday season. Go out and see a grown-up holiday movie for me, okay? Have a nice dinner or two, without food on the floor, the table, the hair. Take a moment to enjoy the peace. It won't last.