Yesterday was pretty crazy. I began the process of defusing the Christmas anxiety by allowing the boys to slowly begin opening presents. Their anxiety is through the roof for a number of reasons and Christmas isn’t helping.

I told them I want a clean house for Christmas and as we make progress, they can pick out one present to open.

The house needs caught up, and it gives them a physical outlet doing something productive. By Christmas Eve, we should be done with presents and the kids will be less stressed. I usually do early present opening anyway because of their anxiety and my own self-preservation. This is just a little different but the circumstances are rather extreme and I will do whatever helps us get through all this intact.

Yesterday was crazy because of the number of unexpected problems that arose.

Our toilet broke and I had to have a repair kit delivered at the last minute. Elliott had some things that needed to be stitched back together and my phone broke. There were a few others but my brain is fried and I can’t for the life of me remember the others. Everything has been repaired and my new phone should be out in the next couple of days.

On the plus side of things, Emmett decided to bake cutout cookies last night and he did a fantastic job making them, even though he was unable to eat any of them himself.

Emmett made me a yellow star cookie and while I don’t eat much junk food lately, I couldn’t say know. He’s so proud of himself and he literally did everything on his own, including coloring the frosting.

Elliott has informed me that he wants to bake a double layer cake this evening. The kids got a bunch of baking supplies from their mom and grandparents for Christmas. The boys are so excited to use their new equipment. ☺