On Saturday, my three-year-old threw a tantrum like never before. His daddy was departing for a football game, and he was not happy. He wanted him to stay home. He wanted to go with him. He just wanted him. Danny clung to my husband with every ounce of energy he could muster, and his full-force fit came just as I peeled his strong little fingers off my husband's hand, allowing him to escape through the garage door. Danny tried to escape too so I locked and chained the door. He responded by hitting, banging, and beating the door and screaming with all his might. No amount of reasoning could penetrate this all-out display of emotion, so I carried Danny like a sack of kicking potatoes into his room where I plopped him into his bed. I told him he could come out of his room when he was ready to be nice, when he could say something other than, "Mommy, you are not my best friend anymore." It didn't take long for Danny to calm down. But he didn't come out of the room. He fell asleep. And then my house was quiet.
Enter my five-year-old who decided he wanted to watch TV while his brother napped. TV watching would have guaranteed me some down time, but I don't really prefer this mindless activity. Just as I was trying to think of something productive Joey and I could do together -- coloring, painting, reading -- Joey announced, "Let's put up our Christmas tree!" Now? In early November? Almost six weeks before we will actually celebrate this festive occasion? This request was not really consistent with my holiday planning schedule and my initial thought was to squash the idea -- because it didn't fit into my grand plan of putting up the tree just a few weeks before Christmas.
Planning is one of my strengths. And one of my weaknesses. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's too stifling, too rigid. So in the spirit of the my new after-cancer-worldview, characterized by the guiding principle of tomorrow is never a guarantee, I considered Joey's enthusiasm for holiday decorating and realized his plan would just give us more time to really enjoy the season that always makes me happy. So I told Joey, "Yes, we can put up our Christmas tree."
After a trip to the attic where I wrestled with all sorts of junk and managed to gather all the necessary Christmas parts, Joey and I spent hours perfecting our tree. And when Danny woke up, he joined us and happily placed ornament after ornament on the same exact tree branch. And when we were done, we admired our sparkling tree in all its glory. On a warm, sunny day in Florida. On November 11.
Tis the season.
