Here I am, out the other side of a really hairy pre-Christmas weekend, and one that went better than it looked like it was going to, considering the state things were in on Thursday afternoon. The tree got decorated,
the groceries got bought, the cookies all baked, and the whole thing would have gone up in flames if I didn’t have three daughters who know how our little corner of the world works, and executed Operation Gingerbread brilliantly. Everyone was arriving at 6, and shortly before that, I was totally in the weeds. Dinner for 25 half done, none of the furniture rearranged, no icing for the cookies… I’d simply run out of time and me to make it all work, and in stepped The Ladies. They were a Christmas party machine. Samantha made the icing, Amanda coloured it with the littles, all while I said things like “Sam – I’m going to need… ” and she’d jump in with “All the forks, Mum, even the ones from the box. I’ll put them on the table.” Or I’d cast about looking wild and say “Meg… if you could…” and there she’d be. “Make the salad? You bet. The apple one?”
Big hands helped little ones do tasks without being asked, coats were spirited away, glasses of wine appeared in hands as though by magic. Platters of food were carried to trivets (they even knew to put trivets on the table. It was surreal.) Spills of icing were cheerfully cleaned up with an “I got it Mum!” and the wee ones were supervised, amused and delighted by my darling army of daughters.
When the time came for singing, instruments were snatched up, and they were charming and talented, and robustly sang for the amusement of Luis, Myrie and the others, and it was all the right songs. (Chris and Kosti did well too. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was an especially big hit.)
I stood there watching them – all three of them, and I sort of couldn’t believe it. All I could think of was the last two decades of Gingerbread parties, parties where I said things like “Please use your gentle touch with the baby” and “Go practice for your music lesson” and “It’s not that hard to make a salad Megan, please don’t give me that face” or “Cookies are not for throwing” or “Samantha, icing goes on cookies, not walls” or “Go help your grandmother you demon” or “Are you people animals? Get a trivet before you put that hot pot on the table.” “Amanda, you’re not going out with your friends – tonight is the Gingerbread party, I swear do not make me kill you this close to Christmas – I’ve already bought your damn present.”
All those years. All those corrections, all those reminders… all those times I didn’t kill the bloody lot of them and leave them at the edge of the woods in a shallow grave.
It all payed off as they waltzed gracefully through the party. At the end of the night, I heard someone say that they didn’t know how I did it, and Amanda said “I know. Mum is a machine.” It made me laugh, because after all these years of doing it FOR them…
This year how I did it WAS them. Thanks Ladies.
The ‘elves’ came through. Well done ladies and well done Mum for teaching them so well.
Thanks Stephanie…..you just made Christmas for me! Peace and Love!
Makes all those teenaged years worth it 😉 Also, love Sam’s hair.
You’re giving me hope for the future of my hoard of demons!
Merry Christmas from my crazy household to yours 🙂
Yay! This gave me the feels. Applause all around.
Your household sounds so much like mine when I read about it here so this gives me so much hope for the future. Merry Christmas!
Thrilled to hear your weekend was better than expected and your ladies rocked it in the best way. We had our party this weekend, too, and our boys did amazingly. Does a mom’s heart good! Cheers and a joyful Christmas season to you and yours! (Now, go knit.)
Yep, that’s how you do it!
Love this. Just. Love. It.
Happy Christmas!
All those years of high-investment parenting really pay off, don’t they? Mine are 16 and 18 now, and they’re the kind of people I was hoping I’d make – interesting, compassionate, funny.
Good job, Steph! You just passed your Final Exam for parenting. Except, of course, they passed it for you.
love the analogy to taking final exams…:)
Wonderful. Just wonderful. It’s the best part of parenting, and you have clearly done an awesome job. (I may have wiped a tear or two reading today’s post.)
There will never be enough time for doing all you WANT to do. But there is always time for family.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Oh my gosh, parenting actually pays off at some point?! Woohoo! Nice job.
Tears in my eyes. This is the success side of parenting. Lovely and a goal to keep in mind as we fight the battle.
I believe what you witnessed was the outcome of good, loving parenting. Good job, Mum!
I am very much in the “we don’t put icing on babies” phase and reading this was so encouraging. I’m so happy your gingerbread party went well!
But, apparently, it is OK to put it on Cameron’s head. Just sayin’
You are one of my parenting role models, especially as my sons enter tween years. “All those years of doing it FOR them …” exactly. Beautiful.
Thanks for the lovely photos!
Glad the elves aka Ladies could step in without even realizing they were doing it. Clearly so well-trained!
We can really use the candle light on these dark Toronto days.
Enjoy the holidays!
Elves indeed!!! Brilliant! And very fun to have another post, most grateful that in the midst of life and your own holiday season you are keeping us in the loop with tongue firmly planted in cheek, as ever. Most grateful Stephanie!!!!!!
As a frazzled mama to a three-year-old and an eight-month-old, both boys, I needed to read this today!
Just have to wait two decades for it to pay off 🙂
Well, of course your girls rose to the occasion & did were perfect. You raised them, didn’t you?
Congratulations! You have done a wonderful job raising three lovely ladies. I’m sure Joe helped a little with that too.It’s an amazing moment when you realize they are grown ups.
That was a beautiful tribute to your wonderful daughters. I have tears in my eyes. Merry Christmas!
Sometimes it’s better to be a cog in the machine, not the whole machine. There’s so much beauty in doing things with like-minded souls. You trained them for it, and gave them the joy of helping you when you needed it.
What a beautiful, happy post. Thank you for reminding me that the Christmas cookies can be done by my children when they arrive in town and they would surely love to do them. I had somehow forgotten.
Lovely tribute to your daughters. Makes a mother’s heart melt.
Bravo for The Ladies!
Hint: Next Christmas let go of the reins of panic, you are now the coordinator/facilitator of the party and The Ladies are the muscle.
Somewhere west of here, Rams is swooning. Joe is a literal and figurative giant among men.
I’m always a cheerleader for Joe as My Favorite Literary Character, but no swooning until after the Dance Party. That’s where the legend hits megaglow.
Next year:
1. Get a pre-decorated tree;
2. Don’t wrap the cat;
3. Refrigerated chocolate-chip cookie dough can substitute for homemade gingerbread;
4. Many supermarkets and delis will cater a party, so find out if yours will;
5. The song “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” is a big hit with the little ones, especially if the appropriate grandmas are there (or if the lyrics are changed to “Aunt Steph Got. . . .”); and
6. Start your Christmas knitting NOW!!!
Funny, when I read your previous post I thought “the girls are adults now, if they want the gingerbread party THEY can bake the cookies and do the prep work”. And look, they really are adults.
Isn’t it amazing that they really do grow up?
I miss my daughters — they live too far away! Lovely post, it brought tears to my eyes.
That’s exactly how I felt, Patti. I miss my girls so much! And now they are hosting parties of their own, with little ones in tow. I mean… I planned it this way, and my plan is working. But I miss them being here underfoot.
You had me marveling at your wonderful women-daughters, laughing through the things you’ve said the last two decades, and crying at the end, daring hope that SOMEday I will be able to say something half as positive. You see, I have ONE child, a just-turned-14-year-old son, and I haven’t yet written my Christmas letter because I can’t think of an upbeat way to portray my life with a testosterone-poisoned, homeschooled adolescent. I must bookmark this; I might even copy the link in my Christmas letter!
When he’s 15, remember not to kill him–I’ve raised 3 sons,; after 15, they get better. Really.
It’s true! Ride this year out and then boys get easier. ♡
Agreed! (third boy is almost 16…)
Wait. What?
I’m *still* trying to keep The Hurricane and The Tornado from annoying me into killing them.
Maybe I’m doing something wr– oh.
Best wishes for the Holiday season to you, Joe and “the Ladies” for a super job done well. Hope everyone had a fantastic evening. Take care, all. 🙂
Amazing how all those hours and tears somehow suddenly pay off, isn’t it? My two daughters are both now married and have morphed into astonishing women. Your daughters have also grown up into wonderful people.
This is your real Christmas present. Merry Christmas!
Apples fall from apple trees. Your daughters sound amazing. You’ve done well.
Christ, how did that dust get into my eye?
I’ve got a toddler now, and I’m looking ahead at the long road. I’m enjoying my toddler– I love her to bits– but thinking about all the little and big steps between now and her becoming a tall, graceful, capable lady like your young women (or, well, that’s the hope!) makes me a little woozy. And makes me sit up straight and say to myself: “Talk to her like a young woman, listen to her like a young woman, and she will one day know how to be a strong, independent young woman.”
In other words: I hope I’m following your excellent example! You supported your family, and now they’ve got your back. Be very, very proud.
Congratulations to your ladies! How wonderful to hear that they stepped up, read your mind, and got things done!
Your girls are beyond awesome. But then, you already knew that, didn’t you?
Well Done Ladies. What a beautiful post, Steph.
You raised your “elves” and now they came through for you. Congrats, mum!
My day has been made. In fact my entire season has been made. This is, in fact, what we do. Raise and harrangue children until they blossom into beautiful beings. What a wonderful reward to both you and them that they could do it and that you could see it.
Oh thank goodness there is hope for my three daughters.
What a joy to look up and observe that your children have morphed into charming people. My “children” are long grown with magic babies of their own. My montra when I was raising them (when I wasn’t contemplating, self-preservating ways to harm them) was, “raise them well and you will actually like them when they are grown”. I look at them now with wonder. Lol. Such a gift! Happy holidays.
Wonderful, beautiful posting. You and your family are so amazing, and inspiring. Well done, all!
Wonderful….love and blessings from Oz XOXOX
<3 Thanks for giving hope to me and all the parents still in the weeds!
Oh how you just gave me so much hope and encouragement today. When you are in the weeds with five kids under the age of ten it’s hard to think about the long term effects of your training. Thank you for this slice of encouragement, and Congratulations for your stunning young ladies.
Aw. Gives me hope that all my nagging and snipping/snarking will someday pay off. Maybe.
xoxo
This is a very happy post. And it makes me a little sad. My family use to be like this. But then divorce happened and a couple of key people died and everything changed. Still trying to figure out how to fix xmas. I don’t think we could have this again, but surely we could have something nice.
Man…Luis is growing up sooo fast! Crazy pants!
You can’t “fix” Christmas. But by being gentle with yourself and trying to think about what blessings are left perhaps Christmas can become something new and wonderful in your life. Don’t set yourself up for failure with overly high expectations. Blessings.
Judith is right, you can’t “fix” Christmas. But you can build a new kind of Christmas. Slowly, with thought and care, you’ll choose the things that are important and make them happen in ways that will support you as you go forward in your life.
Chris S in Canada
I agree – make a “new” wonderful Christmas. I lost my husband, father, two best friends in past years, and this year, my mom. But my brother and his family and I are close and one of his sons is getting married in March, so we’re gaining another member! And my boyfriend from CA is joining us this year – I can’t wait!!
Wow. You should be feeling real proud and kind of teary over all this! Great post.
Beautiful.
You are so far ahead of me.
I still have icing on every available surface – and this year it’s been joined by glitter. Where did all the glitter come from ???
I still remember how on my 7th birthday, my mom had a ‘cookie decorating party’ for me. I think there were sprinkles and sticky frosting-covered surfaces every where in the house after that. For some reason my party the following year was at McDonalds…go figure.
Isn’t it amazing when our kids grow into great adults? Such fun!
I have a friend who claims that chocolate, wine, and well-trained children are proof that love is at work in the universe. Gingerbread fits in that context, too. 🙂
This brought tears to my eyes, the magic of Christmas!
Aww…tears…
And they wouldn’t have believed you back then if you’d told them they’d have the best fun doing it. And they’d have thought you were soppy if you said they were your best present. Look how you go on being right.
(And you remembered to take pictures! THAT’s impressive.)
P.S. My second-favorite reading is always the lists people give you of ways you can cut corners/drop activities/do things ahead. Never gets old (wiping eyes, holding sides.)
Regular killjoys, ain’t they?
Congratulations on raising three fine young women who will be able to do this all for themselves in another few years so you can sit and play with your grandbabies.
I love the photo of the two girls playing music while Joe beams with love and pride in the background.
You have three beautiful daughters 😉
You’ve made me cry before, and I have no doubt you will do so again. (Dammit, woman. I’m COUNTING on that, really.) But seldom have I been touched quite so deeply. Perhaps because I’m also the mother of (gasp, dare i say it …) “a grown up.” And it is rather special, now, isn’t it?
That is all kinds of awesome! You raised them right. Kind of gives me hope that my 3 boys (all young adults now) might be able to step up when needed.
It paid off, indeed! Wonderful! And you give hope to parents everywhere. 🙂
Nice! This gives me hope that my girls will be able to do such things in the not-to-distant future, too. <3
You needed elves, an you got them–the three lovely ladies you raised. Great team work!
What a lovely compliment to your daughters! Obviously very well raised!
Beautiful.
You said you were going to need elves and they came through. In the middle of raising kids the payoff seems so questionable. Welcome to the payoff.
ELVES! YOU RAISED ELVES!
The Ladies rock! As does their Mum. Well done, all.
But you can’t fool me. I see those TARDIS-interior patterned living room curtains. You totally warped the space-time continuum, didn’t you? It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone…
Happy tears today! I along with the rest of the blog was waiting to see if the girls, ahem young women, would step up to the plate. They hit a home run! This is a wonderful tale for the season, better that it’s a true telling. Bask in the glow mum, you’ve earned this.
That is one badass army of daughters you’ve got there. Simply, perfectly, completely badass.
Where are those buttons when you need them?
“Agree”
“Interesting”
“Funny”
and especially…
“Love”
Lovely. I had faith that the ladies would save the day! I am so glad you had such a fun evening. ♡
Well this post gives me so much hope for the future when my two might be old enough and wise enough to take pressure off rather than adding it.
It’s going to be a long road to get there, as the elder is still younger than Sam was when you started this blog.
I might make gingerbread tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing your journey.
You’ve raised them well! It’s starting, soon it will be their turn to have the gingerbread parties and you will get to relax and go to their house.
Isn’t it just lovely when the maniac teenagers morph into wonderful, responsible adults? I had suffered with Noro Virus just before Christmas and while no longer contagious or ill, I had zero energy. My two grownup children charged right in and cooked Christmas dinner without any problem at all. God bless us, every one!
Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. My folks had seven kids. Same genes, same parenting, pretty much. We are SO different. Some would do what yours did last night (or whenever) and others would be hundreds of miles away, on purpose. Nature is a large part of personality, and you never know what you’re going to get.
I miss my babies, but being the mom of delightful grownups has its own charm. It’s great to reap what you’ve sown. Congratulations on arriving at the far side of parenthood!
I think the first time you make a request of a teenager, and the response isn’t an eye roll, but completion of the requested task…well that is a mighty occasion. I think it is up there with learning to blow their nose.
Priceless. Thank you for that.
I loved this! What remarkable children you have. All the years of effort truly paid off. I hope one day I can say the same.
Oh what a sweet post, thanks for sharing those beautiful moments with us. You’ve done right by the lovely ladies! I don’t know if three boys ever will step in the way three girls could, but at Thanksgiving the 21 and the 20 year old were willing and pleasant helpers, the 15 year old rolled his eyes and grumbled but did as asked…I guess we’re on our way!
How beautiful they are, inside and out!
(And I’m so glad you didn’t have to pull it all off alone!)
People like your girls give me hope for the future.
Ahhhh, that’s so nice! I knew it would turn out fine, but it’s nice to hear your report 🙂
Tears in my eyes. I have daughters like that. They amaze me. Thanks for posting.
Tears in my eyes. I have daughters like that. They amaze me, they carry me through and make life a joy. Thanks for posting.
I have daughters just like that, too. Now.
Would they please come to my house and help me? And it would be beyond ok with me if they brought some of that lovely gingerbread.
Almost makes you misty-eyed for those ‘she’s looking out my window’ days.
beautiful, luminous, grand. and the post was delightful as well 🙂
Thanks, After an evening of trying to keep an exasperating little person moving, it’s good to know there’s hope for the future 🙂
That’s awesome.
I teared up reading this. Isn’t it wonderful to watch traditions and family culture pass on seamlessly to the generation of people who, amazingly, seem to be turning out to be a lot like us–and they’re people we genuinely like and appreciate. A special joy of the holidays!
Truly the magic of Christmas….
You did it again, Steph- you made me cry. I’m sitting her with my four year old daughter at the end of a very long bedtime battle (it is currently 9:55pm on a Monday night), watching her FINALLY sleeping, and reading this…seeing her in my mind’s eye growing up to be like your daughters because of all the nonsense I’m putting up with and all the holiday work I’m doing now? Helps so much to see the light at the end of the tunnel actually exists. Thank you for sharing your life with us!
It’s the end product of good parenting and role modeling. Such a lovely post. Happy holidays to you and your family.
Thank you SO much for this. I, too, managed to see my two girls through to adulthood without any deaths or addictions, or loss of body parts. A HUGE accomplishment these days. And, now, when they call me to share my some of my grand children’s latest antics, a serene smile just spreads across my face…
Have you ever shared your gingerbread recipe? If not, please do! I haven’t been happy with any of the ones I’ve tried from the internet.
Yes, you and Joe did an excellent job of raising beautiful children, who have started raising beautiful children of their own. Thank so much for sharing these lovely photos too. It gives me hope that family holidays can indeed be joyful and fun, not just stressful and nuts. I love love love your tree! Gorgeous!
Well, they haven’t started raising their own just yet.
That’s so lovely! I’m teary eyed! Way to go, Ladies!
Commitment. Priorities. Persistence. Boundaries. Traditions. Love given. Love returned. And it’s worth every bit of it. Even tne gray hair (speaking for myself only…you may not have any gray hair……yet).
Merry Christmas!
Isn’t it just the best discovery when you realize those little human projects that you’ve invested years in actually have been paying attention and become way more than you dared hope they’d be? May the rest of the season be marked with other wonders to enjoy.
I think perhaps the moral of the story is that if you want good elves, you’d better grow them yourself! Yes, it takes time, but at least you’ve got a better chance of training them exactly the way you want.
And as a side-note, winter (at least in Canada) is not a good time to have to put anything in a shallow grave at the edge of the woods. Better in the fall, before the ground freezes. Just sayin’.
Chris S in Canada
hahahaha – so practical, Chris!
Daughters are such an amazing gift! (Eventually)
Well done Mum, you & Joe have raised them well. Merry Christmas
We are the same age, you and I, and yet you make me miss my mother with this post. I can remember catching that gleam of pride in her eyes… Nothing ever made me feel so accomplished. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Wonderful!
I would say you give me hope for the future… but I have 3 BOYS (ages 6, 11, and 14) and as much as I wish it were so… I just don’t ever see it happening here. 🙂
Hooray for the McPhee sisters! Great job, ladies!
And the torch is passed, picked up, and carried on, and you know that your traditions will continue beyond your time on this earth! You’ve done a wonderful job with your girls. I read your words, and thought of my mother working so hard to teach my older sister and I the way to make the holidays. How I miss them both!
That’s lovely. Glad you had a wonderful night.
as a mother of 3 daughters myself (there is also a son who is just as good), it is one of the truly wonderful moments a mother can have when you realise that they have turned into intelligent, capable, thoughtful people that you like and are proud to know. in my case, i’m not sure how much credit to take (not murdering them for some major infraction aside!) their dad helped a lot when he wasn’t travelling the world on business, and they were fortunate enough to have all 4 grandparents until the youngest was well into her teens.
good job!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
I’ve got tears in my eyes after reading about your gingerbread party – and I miss my mom so so much more.. Can’t wait till next week when we drive up to her house for Christmas. I hope my kids will cherish traditions and look back at Christmas in this way too.
so happy for you! Please share recipes!!
My morning was going a little rough and then I read this post. My morning is now so much brighter now!
Yea gods, I seem to have got something in both my eyes…
It was all done because they have a terrific Mom who taught them well! Wishes for a warm and loving Christmas to you and yours!
I feel like I just took a big gulp of air and it felt good. We are also rounding that bend in our family. Thank you for saying it so well.
Awwww, this brought tears to my eyes. I have 3 sons and a husband (had to throw the hubs in there…I’m sure any of you married more than a month will understand). On good days I feel like I’m mere moments from everything collapsing into a scene from Lord of the Flies. Your post has brought me hope. With one son over the hump of “the age of adulthood” I do see sprigs of hope….now for the other 3…er I mean 2.
You so made me laugh – I’m right there with you on the hubs comment!!
My mom always said this was why she had four daughters, so she’d have eight extra hands to get things done. I love seeing the Ladies featured in the blog! Merry Christmas from a long-time reader in Tennessee.
I am so enjoying my grown up children. All those years of redirecting and not killing has sure paid off. I love spending time with them. Sounds like your hard work has paid off, too. Good work, momma!
Told ya. Kids make the BEST elves. They’re already trained.
For all of you who say, oh, its a girl? So sorry. They are so hard to raise, take that!
Beautiful! There is hope for me yet! I want to be an honorary member of your family please….
Maybe there is hope for my teenaged daughter yet.
Darn you, you made me cry and right as I am starting work. Aren’t our kids amazing? I love it when they prove to us that we haven’t been doing it wrong all along.
One question: Why am I wearing 3 layers of sweaters and I live in California, and all 3 of your daughters look like they are dressed for a hot day in July?!!!
Persistence pays! Let all parents be heartened to maintain the stamina of consistency. Love and discipline, discipline and love. I thank my late parents every day.
All sorts of thoughts went through my mind reading your blog, and more after reading the comments…Now you have a lovely family tradition that your kids are carrying on.
The party is one that you can store in your heart against whatever the future brings…
This made me cry. Stephanie you should know I printed out your ‘I don’t care about my kids’ feelings’ post and read it at least twice a month for support and guidance. We have a 12 year old and my husband and I are Very Old First Time parents. Total Blessing but, well, you know….now I sit here crying and laughing at the same time (my favorite emotions) – I thank you so much. God Bless your honesty and integrity, in addition to the marvelous knitting! Happy Christmas and Best New Year. Thank you.
I like to give the ‘I don’t care about my kids’ post to new parents. They usually laugh when they first read it. I always tell them it’s amusing now but is truly good parenting advice.
Sorry meant to ask but then forgot – any chance we might have the gingerbread recipe? Always looking for a good one! Thank you.
No time to read all the comments, but I’m sure most of them are along the lines of “Of course, and isn’t it wonderful?!?” Love seeing your beautiful family, your warm and loving home… Happiest of Holidays to you all!
This brought a tear to my eyes; what a lovely gift – to your girls, from your girls, and to the next generation who’s already learning the true meaning of the holiday season.
No disrespect to what I’m sure was meant with the best of intentions, but merely a suggestion of refrigerated chocolate chip cookies … just doesn’t understand the value (family time) to you of home baked gingerbread, or sugar cookies, or snickerdoodles (insert your holiday tradition of choice).
If the girls have any connections, I could use a few such elves myself….. just saying. Have a merry!
Tears. How hard we work as parents, and how wonderful to have lovely human beings at the end to show for it. Nicely done, mama.
As a mum with a 10, 7, 4, and almost 2 year old it was great to know that at some point it all becomes worth it. The fussing about clean hands, and picked up floors, and not killing each other becomes adults who help you and love each other. It is also nice to see another example of music lessons pay off. My 10 year old played “Silent Night” just perfectly last night to a packed house for our annual carols, cookies, and cocoa party. Brings a tear to my eye!
This brought tears to my eyes. Looking at my little one and this being his first Christmas, I’m just so excited for the traditions to start!
Thanks for this awesome post. This parent of a 15 year old feels reassured that my zombie teenager will return one day as a normal human being that can interact successfully with the rest of human kind! 🙂
Such a beautiful post, and beautiful sentiment, Steph! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Steph, I was in tears shortly after I began reading this post – because, like your girls, my son and daughter grew up and turned into wonderful people who Did The Right Things. All the years of repetitions and reminders and feeling like the load was never going to get lighter… and then, there they were. Beautiful grown people. I am joyful on your account and on mine.
Damn it, Steph. As the parent of three remarkable adult children, I am sitting here balling my eyes out. And I have to open the library in 10 minutes.
How moving ! How true ! Thank you ! Thank them …
You’ve done very well, mum! This is when it all shows through! And how very very beautiful!
Joyful holidays to you!
I can only echo what I have heard….Wonderful party, wonderful offspring, you and Joe should be justifiably proud. And so should your three amazing daughters.
Excellent! Bravo to you and the Ladies!!
Beautiful. Just beautiful. It is wonderful to hear that it eventually does pay off. I can see it in my 11 and 13 year olds, some of the pay off is here, some still to come (hopefully). Bless you and yours this holiday season!
Congratulations! You no longer have “children”. You’ve reached your goal of unleashing adults on the world. Job well done!
Those were the elves I knew would come through for you 🙂
Have I mentioned that my handsome 24 year-old son lives in Toronto? If any of the ladies are casting for the role of ‘boyfriend’ I’ll send him around for an interview. #Yenta
That’s wonderful! Merry Christmas.
Good going girls! What a sweet warming story. <3
Made me cry and gave me hope for my daughters 🙂
Merry Christmas Steph.
Parenting – you’re doing it right! 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your entire, very beautiful family. xx
How great – the torch is being passed!
Now if I could just figure out how to get the younger generation around here to participate. Me asking nicely hasn’t worked.
Kids? I don’t have any (of my own), I don’t even like them as a general population but this post made me cry. Happy Christmas to you and your beautiful family, Steph.
it’s been fun watching them grow up over the years. i’ve been having a lot of those moments, lately. my baby (who is 21) has been adulting all over the place lately, and it’s hard to believe i birthed this humungous (he’s 6’3″) mustachioed grown up.
Wonderful to read about parents who realized that they are supposed to work themselves out of a job.
It doesn’t mean you don’t love your children.
Your girls proved that at this party.
Have a great holiday.
I still say it was more fun when they threw water balloons at each other inside the house…
Merry Christmas!!
You made me cry. I feel the same way — when I look at my own kids, now in college, joining us and older friends and family, being gracious and helpful, taking time to stop and talk and listen, instead of disappearing behind some tech thing, being real people I love to be with, and i think, “i made this!” Its the best gift ever. Enjoy!
You have such a great family. You are so luck – but I think you know that.
Whoa – that lump in my throat is rather large. And my eyes are hot and threaten to spill tears. So. Very. Lovely. Thank you for this glimpse into every parent’s dream; children who grow up to be capable, resourceful, and *kind.* So much Love radiates from your words and images (laced with just the right bits of humor and sarcasm). Wishing you and your family Joy, Love, and Happy Adventures for the coming year.
If you are a Katherine Hepburn fan, here’s a great revelation — she was a knitter! : http://miss-flapper.tumblr.com/post/135284740294/katharine-hepburn-knitting-on-the-set-of-bringing
I also have three grown daughters and it is so rewarding to see how those traditions that I worked hard to keep going are now so very important to them. Congratulations on raising sentimental and capable daughters!
I couldn’t help but marvel at how much Frankie has grown in such a short time. I think he looks so much like his beautiful mother.
You are very, very blessed!
What a wonderful post, Steph. It made me misty-eyed. Thanks for the preview of what Christmas is all about, in time to adjust attitudes and be super alert to what’s important when my own steps and their littles turn up on the day.
That actually made me tear up! Happy Christmas!
You have a beautiful family Steph. Merry Christmas to you all!
Dear Stephanie,
Your post has made me reflect, once again, on my days as a young mother of six children, five of them girls. I remember the times when we seemed to be in an adversarial relationship — them against us (and, oh my, how badly we were outnumbered!) They could think of more mischief to get up to — the wall painted with Vaseline comes vividly to mind. The three oldest girls were 5,3,1 at the time, and I don’t really know who thought it up, or who did the deed. But it was a MESS, the more so because we hadn’t closed on the house yet, so it really still belonged to someone else…
Then they started to get older, and embarked on the rebellion of their teen years. But in the middle of it all, I found that we could talk, and that they cared about me as much as I cared about them, and the oddest thing happened — we developed friendships.
The children are all grown now, but one thing has come from of motherhood — my son and my daughters are now my Best Friends!
Brilliant! In tears of joy I write to you with hopes that all that I have done will someday pay off as your years of “training” have. Unfortunately I have not the physical strength for the stress or the decorating and such. RA has been slowly taking my life from me in small painful ways. Someday, hopefully, my family will rise to the season and make my dreams of a lovely Christmas come true. But first, I need to buy a house. We have outgrown our apartment.
Thank you for the lovely post of your family gingerbread party. Best of all to you and your family and friends in the years to come. I love looking forward to reading your blog posts.
“Army of daughters” – really love this.
Given I’m approaching my daughter’s first Christmas, this all seems such a long way off, but I love this post, and look forward to watching her grow in the way I’ve watched your girls grow up since I discovered the blog when I started knitting about 12 years ago.
If I can ever do half as good a job (in either skill) as you, Steph, I’ll be delighted!
As a mum to a couple of ladies who are still in the demon stage, I have to say THANK YOU for the much needed moment of hope.
This was such a wonderful post. I hope me and my three sisters can be those elves one day, but right now, one of us lives in Chicago (she managed to go home for Christmas this year), I live in London and have a baby due in early January, so I can’t fly, and the youngest one of us is still only 14.
Also, last time we tried to help like that, it sort of ended up in a fight of “Mooom, if your kid wants nutella in her cake, and she is already upset because you substituted the hazelnuts in the hazelnut cake for walnuts, don’t substitute nutella fror chocolate, please. No, nutella doesn’t have trans fat, no, palm oil isn’t unhealthy, it’s just not sustainable, will you please believe my husband, he’s a chemist!”
And I know how nice she always wants to make Christmas, and how stressful it all is for her. I wish someday we can all be back to Budapest for Christmas and decorate gingerbread together.
Thank you Stephanie, for giving me hope! This is the first Christmas for baby #2, and there is no gift knitting. I made a washcloth for girlie#1’s kindergarten teacher, and am making monster pants for baby that may or may not be done, and might not fit until she’s three. That’s it. Thank you for the hope.
I think this is my favorite post EVER. With a 7 and 4 year-old, I dream of the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I can believe in it.
You indeed are very blessed, and worked very hard over the years to reap the joy bestowed on you today! Merry Christmas
Beautiful
So somewhere, some day, all of the nagging and tears of frustration are worth it?
I love my three girls, but I despair daily.
Thank you for giving me hope! (I’ll report back in 10-15 years…)
Totally choking up. Well done on the raising of the kids, McPhee.
What a cute little Christmas star! Was it made of paper??
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