Harried Holidays

I have this notion that I will write nine posts a month.   But this month, I can barely get a thing done.  The holiday season is so stressful.    There are playdates, ornament-making parties, Chanukah on the horizon, thater producations, the flu, gift-buying, charity-giving, preschool parties, and lots of energy going outward.   On top of this, I had a weird ailment and, although not serious, I had to run around and get a variety of tests, coordinated with a lot of babysitting hours.  

Sometimes just getting through the day is all I can accomplish, let alone write a blog post.  

Still there is something rather comforting in my commitment to this blog.   Besides exercise, it is my only other personal commitment that is for me. Writing makes me feel good.  It soothes me.  But more importantly, it is the actual act of sitting down and using my brain in this way--of researching and ambling around the internet with a focus---that makes me feel, well, useful!   Funny thing is that I haven't done a darn thing to find readers, so I often joke that it is just me doing this for me--with the occasional person that reads a post or two.  

I guess what I am trying to say, in this long-winded way of mine, is that I wonder WHY I am writing this blog that no one reads?   Is it this hunch I have that someone, somewhere will find this useful?   Or that I will be discovered and mom's everywhere will be running to buy this in book form?   Or perhaps it is just the ZEN act of writing it because it is fun and interesting?  

Anyway, one thing that I have been noticing is the link between holiday activties and books.   For instance, my step-daughter and I took Mirette to the Teddy Bear Suite, a room in a fancy hotel filled with velvet and teddy bears, and there on the table were books about teddy bears.   Another day we visited Santa's cabin and there was a basket filled with Santa books.    Mostly, we don't have time to read these books, but I do think it's pretty cool that books can compliment almost any experience.

Another great thing about books is that they help our children handle the overstimulation of the holiday season.   There have been many times in the past weeks, that we've chilled out by our tree with a pile of books.   It forms a safe haven from the whirlwind of our busy lives.