What a very Merry Christmas we had here at the Kane Household (aka: Hearth Haven)! Joe and I got up around 7am and had our morning cup of coffee before awakening the seven kids. They barreled down the stairs to the living room where the gifts from Santa had been left beneath the tree, along with overflowing stockings and the wrapped presents from family and friends. They tore into their treasures with squeals of delight and believe it or not, gratitude expressed toward the giver. For the next few hours, we all reveled in the joy of the gift giving and more closely exploring the newly acquired items. Around 1pm, Joe went over and picked up his mother so she could come over and spend the afternoon with us, and more presents were exchanged. Throughout the afternoon, I worked on preparing our traditional Christmas dinner of leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans and asparagus. After dinner, we all relaxed in the living room together, watching “The Christmas Story” for the umpteenth time, but still laughing at the funny parts. (Does anyone ever get tired of that movie? Not me! I love it.)

The day after Christmas found us celebrating once again as Joe’s sister, brother-in-law and our niece came into town. We shared another wonderful meal with them and basked in the continuing afterglow of the day before. Yesterday was another family and holiday filled day spent with the above mentioned family as well as my mother, who came over for the day with us. We all went to see “Marley & Me” (I highly recommend it, although, of course, the book is even better!) and then went to Province 620 on Hendersonville Road for a lovely dinner. Sadly, we had to bid farewell to Joe’s extended family as our niece was heading back to Hollywood and his sister and brother-in-law back to Charlotte.

Today we have spent just being quiet, relaxing and hanging around the house. Playing some new games we got for Christmas and doing puzzles. The lights on the tree are still twinkling and the house is warm and cozy. The joy and peace of the season surrounds our home as I hope it does yours, too.

When our triplets were about six months old, I had taken all four kids to the store. On our drive home, our oldest son, who was four and a half at the time, piped up from the back seat and asked, “Mom, who is nobody?”. Now, there’s a question, I thought. After a moment, I tried to explain. “Well, nobody is really nothing. Somebody who doesn’t exist.” That was about as good as I could explain it. “Oh” he said, “you mean like you.” That about summed it up for me at that particular moment in my life, I can tell you. I felt like everything had been drained from my energy stores. Having three premature little babies, getting little to no sleep, not having enough hands to juggle bottles and diapers and babies had left me feeling empty. If it hadn’t been so insightful yet innocent, I might have cried, but I had to laugh and go on. What else can you do when you’re nobody?

“Mommy, they’re saying that Scrappy is fat!” whined Topher one morning at the breakfast table. “Honey, Scrappy is fat. He’s a teddy bear. Teddy bears are supposed to be fat. You wouldn’t want a skinny teddy bear. Then he wouldn’t be so squishable.” I told him to try to ease the hurt of his siblings’ words. “Yeah”, said T.J., “like mommy. She’s squishable.” Hmmm, brave boy? “Are you saying I’m fat, T.J.?” I asked with an offended look on my face. “Oh, no, mommy,” giggle, giggle, “you’re just squishable.” with more giggles from around the table. “Ooooh, T.J., you’re going to be in trouble.” James whispered to him. Of course, he wasn’t. I couldn’t argue with facts. They’ve got me there, I must admit I am squishable. No doubt about it, but I think I’ll adopt the squishable title. I like that better than fat (or whatever the politically correct term would be) anyway.

Guess I definitely need to jump on that 2009 New Year’s resolution and get my squishable self in better shape!

Before I had children, there were many things my parents said to me that I swore I would never say to my children, and one of those things was “Because I said so! That’s why.” What sort of stupid answer was that. That wasn’t a reason for anything. How dare they?

Alas, with age comes wisdom and understanding and appreciation for our parents and many of the things they did and said! What sort of answer is that? What sort of reasoning? I’ll tell you. “Because I said so” comes out of my mouth when I have exhausted all other explanations. When I’m tired of arguing with the kids. When there honestly is no other answer except this. When I don’t know the answer but I know that what I’m saying is right. It is a saying that has transcended generations and I’m quite certain it’s use will continue for years to come. When those words crossed my lips the first few times, I was probably more shocked than my child, who just really accepted it and went on with life. But as the years have passed, I have realized that most of the times I utter those four little words, there is a reason and I am under no further obligation to explain myself any further. Why? Because I said so!