Sunday Mosaic # 5: Christmas Day
Posted on | December 25, 2005 | 16 Comments
Awake with the first light of morning spreading its way through the opaque curtains. Bean in his red footie snowman pajamas nestles into the nook of my neck for one final snuggle before announcing his desire to roust the world and investigate every corner of it.
DH and I pass him of to his grandmother and take a shower like we used to in college, together, bumping elbows, kissing, grinning. We join the others in the kitchen with damp hair and pour cups of coffee. I make scones, crumbling the butter with the flour until it feels like wet sand. A sprinkle of cream and raw sugar on the top of each will make them sweet and brown in the oven.
Later everyone is on the couch opening presents almost simultaneously. It is a blur of red and patterned paper. Bean gets a little Radio Flyer wagon and his grin couldn’t be wider when he figures out how it works. He spends the rest of the morning as a battering ram, pushing the cart around the room at a careening pace, grinning from ear to ear. All the unwrapping leaves me breathless, and Bean exhausted. By 9:30 we curl up in bed again. He naps, and I look out the window, watching blackbirds and wondering about the remarkable warp and weft that makes family.
In the late afternoon DH calmly descends upon the kitchen and pulls together an exquisite meal almost single handedly: turkey breast stuffed with prosciutto, sage, apples and rosemary; garlic mashed potatoes, sautéed asparagus, cran-rasberry sauce, and sausage stuffing. I put some funky French street-performance inspired music on the stereo, dance with the baby, and make a salad with red leaf lettuce, pomegranate, asiago cheese and apples.
There are of course the moments of raised eyebrows when the siblings-in-law act the way they always do: condescending and critical. But we leave it at that, diluting the tension with the fact that we are together. This is family.
By dinner Bean is in the throws of teething agony—his second top tooth is cutting through. During dinner he sits in my lap and bangs his spoon on his highchair which he refuses to sit in. I gulp my food, feeling guilty. A late dinner has put us past his normal bedtime. I run the bath, but forget to stop the drain so all the hot water runs out. I remember in time to get two inches of luke warm water in the bottom of the tub, but Bean doesn’t seem to notice—- he’s too obsessed with the full length mirror along the wall of the tub and kisses his reflection.
By the time he finally is asleep my throat hurts and I make tea. Days like this fill my heart to bursting with the ups and downs of being a part of the small group of people that make me whole. With the tug of longing for my own family: my sisters, my mom. With the wonder at my small boy who suddenly has four teeth and is almost walking. With wide love I have for DH, who can still after seven Christmases make me giddy for this holiday just by association.
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16 Responses to “Sunday Mosaic # 5: Christmas Day”
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I am Christina Rosalie
Hello. I'm so happy you've stopped by!
I am a multimedia storyteller, digital strategist, idea starter, stalker of wonder, finder of four leaf clovers, MFA graduate student, and mama of boys. My first book,
will be published by SKIRT! Books in September, 2012.
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December 26th, 2005 @ 5:08 am
I’ve read your post with a smile on my face. It seems that it has been a full,lovely, and a joyful day for you even though the tooth agony of Bean. By the way i am a follower of your blog it is nice to know that other mothers from all around the world are living almost the same problems with me.
December 26th, 2005 @ 7:47 am
My daughter is in love with your dog. She keeps making me go back to the picture at the top row of your mosaic. Your day sounds wonderful. Full of Christmas spirit in the best sense of the word!
December 26th, 2005 @ 7:53 am
lovely lovely post. makes me smile just reading it. I’m glad you had a wonderful day!
December 26th, 2005 @ 10:01 am
such perfect words for a perfect day.
December 26th, 2005 @ 10:09 am
You’ve captured the angst that can run underneath the family gatherings– so small– just a creek — but you’ve also shared with us the tremor of BIG LOVE that makes it all magical. I think you are an amazing artist and writer–
December 26th, 2005 @ 11:43 am
I think your Sunday Mosaic’s are my favorite. I love the way you capture the day!
December 26th, 2005 @ 11:45 am
What a special day – Bean’s first Christmas, and OH the very gourmet Christmas feast. I am impressed! You’ve conveyed it all with your light, perfectly observing touch -
December 26th, 2005 @ 11:57 am
“…the remarkable warp and weft that makes family.” This is a gorgeous post. You are a lovely, lovely writer.
December 26th, 2005 @ 12:26 pm
Oh my! I just discovered you through the muses ( Frida and Georgia). I clicked on your name in the comments. Oh my, oh my, this post is so beautiful. I don’t know how I am going to keep up with all you wonderful people I meet online, and I don’t even blog, I just read and cry, tears of joy, tears of emotion. Some of you write well and are extraordinarily creative and some of us are not. But, what I see, what I see, is that we are all basically the same, black, brown and white, strokes of human emotions, varying from compassion, kindness, generousity to pragmatism. I love you all and will be following your blog. I just wish I had more time in a day! Happy holidays!
Hugs!
December 26th, 2005 @ 1:11 pm
What lovely photographs, and such a perfect description of a family day! The holidays are often so full of people and personlaities, memories, hopes…and food, and your post brings back memories of many Christmas days I’ve had. This year was quiet and low key, exactly as I wanted it. I have really enjoyed “meeting” you this year and following your wonderful journey in the north country. I want to wish you and your beautiful family all the best in the New Year…hoping your dreams come true and bring you joy. – carla:>
December 26th, 2005 @ 2:16 pm
I wonder at anyone being condescending or critical of you. I have a feeling that if I came over to your place, I’d be either effusively making a fool of myself or completely silent in all my I’m-not-worthy-ness.
How dare they condescend or criticize in the poet-artist-photographer’s ethereal presence?
December 26th, 2005 @ 8:52 pm
How nice to get a glimpse of your Christmas day on Boxing Day. Your first Christmas as a family?
December 26th, 2005 @ 9:08 pm
Merry Christmas Christina, DH and Bean from my family to yours. Sounds like you and DH know what life is all about. Cheers to next year being equally abundant for all three of you.
December 26th, 2005 @ 11:27 pm
What a picture you painted here. Sounds like a beautiful Christmas Day and makes me LONG for New England! (Used to live there…)
December 27th, 2005 @ 12:15 pm
what a wonderful Christmas day, and such a sensory delight… the food, the music, the sight of Bean and his excitement. You make me wish I was part of the family so I could enjoy all these things, too
December 27th, 2005 @ 6:34 pm
These pictures are just wonderful. Your description of the day invites me to feel like I am right there with you. Your honesty is so good here. Hope that this week brings you some rest after it all…