Deck the Halls... and the Bedroom and the Bathroom

The holiday season is hectic. Even though it happens every year, the pace and the plans and the lists all still seem to come as a surprise to me. We celebrate Halloween and I blink and I’m eating turkey and I blink again and it’s time to hang stockings, climb on a roof with a string of lights, and embark on a hefty home improvement project.

Isn’t that how you like to celebrate?

I guess I’m just a gluten for chaos, or maybe I forgot what it’s like to have a toddler, as my preschooler turns into a helpful, independent big boy.

On Black Friday I stood in Lowe’s with a 5-gallon bucket of paint and announced the disputed bedroom remodel brainstorm I had a few months ago would become a reality. Drew was less than thrilled.

Since then, we’ve been taping, tarping and painting between the hours of 8-10pm because I discovered it’s incredibly difficult and messy to sling rollers while a nearly two-year-old who has already decimated five Christmas ornaments is running around. That’s the toddler part I forgot about. 

One minute, I'm changing into my paint clothes and the next minute I'm finding that toddler had snuck into a paint-filled construction zone undiscovered, deciding to take "painting" into his own hands. Literally. Unfortunately, his fingerpaint masterpiece did not come out of his clothes. It's just a small dose of the level of destruction he's capable of.

I’ve un-decorated almost as much as I’ve decorated this season. Baby Bro has officially hit the dreaded boundary-testing phase. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s in his hand, he throws it. Especially if you tell him not to. After a handful of smashed ornaments and a plate full of decorative pine cones lobbed across my living room, I reluctantly got out the Christmas box and started putting things away.

With paper ornaments and a bucket of paint, I’m tackling this season head-on. And I’m hoping somewhere down the line Santa will bring my little guy a pitching scholarship to make up for it.

Despite the occasional destruction, these boys are definitely on the nice list.