Well, it's all over y'all, and I for one am SO glad. I know, I know, the magic of Christmas, little eyes aglow, the last year of believing in Santa for Sister, yada yada yada. Christmas is stressful no matter how much I vow to keep things low-key, not buy so many presents, send Christmas cards only to those who sent them last year, that sort of thing. I can vow all this, keep my vows, and Christmas is still a time of too little sleep, too much to do, and--let's face it--a big let-down after all the presents are opened and there's a big mess to clean up.
It seems to me that Sister had it particularly rough this year the way that the Ex and I worked out her schedule. This year was her year to spend Christmas with me, and to make up for the fact that I would have Sister on two of "his" days, the Ex tacked on one extra day last week and one extra this week to his usual time with her. This means that she's hopped between households every 2 days for the past week, and she's looking a little peaked. This morning when I went in to her room she had the oddest look on her face. It was a little too old for a 7-year old girl--sort of resigned and sad and like she had a secret all at once. Now, it could just have been that I walked in right before she jerked her finger out of her nose, but I don't think it was just that. A little later in the kitchen I was trying to make a few light jokes while I stirred up some pancake batter, and she kept looking at me like she wasn't sure how to respond. She seems very emotionally fragile somehow. Husband says that he always had a tough time right after Christmas because there's such a build up and then the event is basically over in a few hours. Does anyone else out there remember the same thing happening to them? Or do your own kids go through the same thing? Maybe I should damn the torpedoes and try and keep the excitement going throughout the day. Or maybe that's just delaying the crash that's inevitable. I don't know.
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4 comments:
I think to some extent the letdown after Christmas is inevitable for all kids. Big-A had her moments in the day when she was sad that Santa was not coming again, and she was a little bit sad when her grandmother and uncles left. But it does sound like it might be a little more exacerbated for Sister with the craziness of going between households. However, it definitely seems like you're cognizant of that and trying to do everything you can to prevent a total letdown for her. Hope things settle down for her now that the stress of the holidays is over!
It could be a little of the letdown of Christmas. My 4 year old asked me today if Santa was coming again tonight.
I hope that things settle down for her and she is able to be more relaxed.
Em woke up on Christmas Night (after all the presents etc) and cried and cried. I think it was the build up and then the release.
I gave her some ibuprofen and she passed out until this morning. It is hard to have all that in such a little body.
I've totally felt that letdown for as long as I can remember. With my kids, it's more of a melt-down than a let-down. They are sort of losing their minds right now.
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