What Happened After I Let My Kids Watch 'Christmas Vacation'

I'm usually pretty strict on what my kids watch. The oldest watched nothing but PBS until he was 6 years old. As the kids get older, I've been a bit less stricter about what they've watched (as long as it was kid friendly). This season, they've been asking (and asking, and asking, and asking more) to watch Christmas Vacation because they overheard me say it was my favorite Christmas movie.

Last Saturday I was desperately trying to get everything done before our family Christmas that afternoon. Hubs was at work, so it was just me and the minis, who were running around the house. In an attempt to calm them and NOT lose my sanity I told them they could watch a Christmas movie. We spent the next 20 minutes looking through our DVD's, Netflix, and Hulu only to be met with "I don't want to watch that."

Then one of them asked, "well, can we watch Christmas Vacation?" They all eagerly looked at me. They had found a movie they agreed on and were excited about. I mulled it over for about three seconds before saying, "okay, fine." I don't consider this a weak mom moment, but rather a sanity saving move that ensured everything was ready for Christmas dinner and me looking presentable.

For the next 97 minutes the minis were entertained. Very entertained. They laughed at all of the appropriate laughing parts and overall thoroughly enjoyed it. When the movie was done they sat around saying their favorite lines from the movie, which happened to be none of the inappropriate parts. I was patting myself on the back as we walked into family Christmas dressed nicely, our portion of dinner complete (and edible), and the minis extremely happy. Big mom win.

Cut to Monday, late morning. The boys were at school and Lil Miss was home with me (her break having already started). It was clean up time and I saw her pause by the window. I didn't think too much of it and continued to help one of the younger ones clean up the blocks. Then, I overheard this conversation:

Girl: What are you doing Elizabeth?
Elizabeth: Smoking.
Girl: Oh.
Elizabeth: Out the window so no one can smell it.

I whip around (keep in mind Hubs and I are not smokers and my kids have had very little exposure to anyone smoking): Elizabeth! Are you pretending to smoke?
Elizabeth: No mom! Stop it! (along with a very obvious eye roll)

I've also been told by grandparents and sitters that the minis have recited entire scenes for them, word for word, action by action. I'll consider it a mom win for that day. I'll apologize for any friends, family, or little friends who may hear the movie word for word. On that note: "we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fucking Kaye." Merry Christmas!

* If you are not familiar with the scene my daughter is copying, I encourage you to watch Christmas Vacation to make this holiday season complete.

The Weekend Before Christmas

T'was the weekend before Christmas and all through the house, all the creatures were stirring...when we were home at least. It wasn't a very restful weekend, but we had an excellent first family Christmas of the season.

We had planned on going to Santa at the Zoo (just mom and minis as Hubs was working the day away), but cold temps and snow deterred me from venturing out with the minis, especially since we had a small time frame to complete Santa visit and get home for family Christmas prep. Let me just say that everything happens for a reason. The weather kept us home and thankfully we were home or I wouldn't have gotten anything completed for family Christmas! I spent all morning and all afternoon baking, making soup, cleaning from the baking adventures (I somehow managed to crack an incredibly durable bowl, pictured below), and wrapping presents.

The minis didn't seem to mind spending some time at home. They played board games, danced to Christmas music, and happily sampled the sweets.

Group hug

As usual, when the adults finished Christmas dinner, we sat around chatting, while the kids ran off to play. After a while I realized I had accumulated a lot of plates as the youngest mini was "serving" me.

Some (but not all) of the cousins at Christmas.

Gift opening happened in age order: oldest to youngest. Elizabeth was the last to go. We noticed her slowly opening her gift as other's were opening! She just couldn't wait!

Elizabeth didn't want to leave her playing spot in the bed to take a family picture, so we took one without her. One of the boys commented that we look pretty good with just four of us in the picture!

We all crashed Saturday night, later than planned of course. Sunday was crazy as well. We ventured out into the freezing cold (literally, 30 below zero. It shouldn't even be allowed) for a Christmas party and more Christmas shopping. I've had the minis Christmas presents bought since October, but we saved extended family for last minute. We had to go multiple places for gift cards and random items. We practiced good parenting and bribed our kids: "if you're good and hang in with us through it all, we'll take you to see Santa at the mall again." The bribe worked!

We also rewarded them with Hurts Donuts. None of us could decide which one we wanted so we all ate a bite of each donut, just to taste them all. They were VERY good!

The minis ended their weekend with a Christmas movie, while I ended mine with Starbucks and books. #heaven

I feel like Christmas has really snuck up on us this year. I'm happy this will be the last time until next Christmas that we'll be present shopping like this. We decided for the minis birthday's (in June, in exactly 6 months) to gift them a vacation and passes to local places. As much as I used to love shopping and finding a good deal, I don't have much fun with it anymore. Despite that, I'm looking forward to the rest of our Christmases and seeing everyone's reactions to what they got.