Why My Christmas Tree Is Still Up...

Hmm... Why on January 12 is my Christmas tree still up? Why indeed, particularly in a year when my New Year's resolution is for our family to work on developing better habits, starting with orderliness. Let's see...

Slow and easy has been my motto. I knew that this month was going to be weird - we'd been gone almost two weeks, and we've been expecting to head back to Nashville any day to meet my best friend's second precious son. (Still waiting on Baby Cole and trying to coordinate arriving in Nashville at just the right time.) We have actually been doing pretty well at returning to a loose routine of Sophie's school on Monday, being home and doing some preschool work on Tuesday-Thursday and having family time on Fridays. We are making progress in the area of orderliness, deciding where things should "live" (as Sophie says), cleaning out space for new toys and bringing them from the house to the garage over a period of a week or so. 

I really struggle with the desire to "get everything done" on a particular time table, and the Christmas tree being up in the middle of January doesn't fit with that, but I've noticed that when the said "time table" becomes the priority, I'm not the most pleasant person to be around. Now at some point, my slow and easy method will backfire, (for example I will also be most unpleasant if my tree is still up on Valentine's Day...) but for now, it is more important to get back into the routine of "normal"  and attempt to create a bit of everyday order than to tackle the project of taking down our decorations. 

Things I have done while not taking down the Christmas tree:

• Restocked our pantry, freezer and fridge with healthy foods that are practical for our family
• Cooked balanced healthy meals that Matt, Will and I have enjoyed and Sophie has sustained her life with
• Consistently had devotion time 
• Enjoyed consistent learning time both structured and unstructured with Sophie (She is doing so incredibly well with her reading and her attention to visual detail blows me out of the water)
• Discovered that Will has cultivated an interest in being read to (as opposed to his interest in eating or ripping anything resembling a book). I must say this brings me such joy, and my little man already has a favorite book, I Love You Through and Through. He breaks out in the biggest grin when I read it.
• Noticed my children, treasuring and pondering both the depths and limits of what I understand about them
• Relaxed with my husband and noticed that he still turns the lights on the tree each night. I  actually don't think he's trying to annoy me; I think he just really loves the way it looks. 
• Spent time outside, even when it's been cold
• Experienced a surprise visit from my grandparents (My grandmother who keeps an immaculate, perfectly-decorated house gave three hours notice, and did I mention my tree is still up?)
• Discovered that our home must be child-proofed sooner rather than later. (Learned after chasing Will up the steps multiple times an hour and coming home from the playground to find the house full of gas from Will turning the stove on...) Slow and easy can't be our motto on this one!
• Enjoying thoroughly both our house (the physical building) and our home (the feeling we all have being cozied up here together with not-too-much to do and a beautiful Christmas tree in the window.