A Christmas for Two

When Chris and I got married and moved to Connecticut, we began traveling back to Florida every Christmas to spend the holidays with our family.   In all the hustle and bustle of shuffling back and forth between my parents, his mom, and his dad’s houses, we decided that before we headed south, we would have our own Christmas at our house.     Just the two of us.

I have always loved that tradition.   For one night, it was just us.   We usually cooked a good dinner, poured a couple glasses of wine, turned on the Christmas music, and sat ourselves together in front of our Christmas tree.   It gave us a chance to connect quietly before the crazy holiday season began.

This year, we were a little torn as to how we would do Christmas with the Bean.   I knew that we wouldn’t be at our house on Christmas morning, so my Santa gifts would have to wait.   We’ll do Christmas morning at Chris’ mom’s house and she has some Santa gifts we’ll put out for him.   Once we get back to Florida next weekend on the day after Christmas, we’ll have a real Santa visit for Beanie.   Chris and I originally planned to do our Christmas that morning with Bean’s Santa gifts.   But one night last week before we left for our trip, Bean went to sleep a little earlier in his swing in the living room and Chris and I found ourselves sitting around the Christmas tree together.

“What about our Christmas?” Chris asked.

“Well, I guess we’ll do it with Beanie,” I said.

We both sat there for a minute and then at the same time we suggested that we do our Christmas together tonight instead.   Partly because neither of us have any patience when it comes to gift-giving and partly because it was our tradition.   So, we exchanged our gifts that night.   Just the two of us.

This year, Santa brought Chris one big present.   A gift card so he could go buy his ping pong table.   He wanted one that connected to the top of his pool table, so he got one of those.   And Bean gave him a net and a set of Florida Gator paddles.

Santa brought me a LOT of stuff!!   I must have been a really good girl!!   This year, Chris really ventured out.   He went shoe shopping and finally bought me some new boots!   I love them because I wouldn’t have ever thought to pick them out for myself, but they are just perfect!!

And he bought me some new flannel pj’s that I have been asking for since we first moved to Connecticut FIVE YEARS AGO… I think it is necessary to own at least one pair of flannel pj’s when you live in Connecticut.

And my big gift was this beautiful set of natural pearls.   If you can’t tell, they are pink and purple and cream colored.   Really pretty and just my style.

And Bean used his allowance and bought me the matching bracelet!   How thoughtful are my boys!

But my favorite gift this year was actually a stocking stuffer.   When we bought our house last year, it came with a washer and dryer.   They were old, but they worked so we didn’t complain.   But the dryer drives me crazy.   The lint tray was cracked, so lint got all over everything.   And the knob to turn the dryer on was broken, so I had to use a pair of pliers to turn the knob every time I did a load of laundry.   So, imagine my delight this year when I opened my stocking to find a new lint tray and dryer knob!!!!

I know its a strange gift, but I found it surprisingly romantic and thoughtful…

The gifts were great, but my favorite part of the night was that Bean was sleeping.

Not that I don’t love the little dude more than my next breath.

But it was such a warm feeling to know that while our family has expanded and so our holidays will now take on a new level of excitement and happiness, Chris and I can still share those special times together.   Just the two of us.   I think that because we are able to connect in those small little ways, we are stronger in our marriage and better parents for Bean.   And that might be the greatest gift we can give to Bean and to each other.