A Time to Get Busy Making Memories

By Maria (Ehma) Porpio

Last weekend I felt extremely blessed that I thought my heart was going to burst…

 

I worked the night shift!

You think I’m being sarcastic but I’m not. Maybe, it’s nothing more than the ordinary for some but for me being able to see my awesome colleagues again, to earn more than I thought I deserve and to be given the time and opportunity to sharpen my skills are just a few reasons why I love to work available hours anytime there’s no conflict with family’s schedule.

So because night shift can be tough sometimes and I’m getting old to be deprived of sleep (LOL), I felt I had to plan my schedule and differentiate “IMPORTANT and URGENT” tasks from the “IMPORTANT but NOT Urgent”.  Here’s what I came up with:

IMPORTANT but NOT Urgent – Their lack of urgency does not make them less important but getting them off of the list and forgetting about them will eventually move them to be urgent. So they have been assigned a day to get done…

1.       Exercise- There’s no point in going to the gym when there’s only some energy left to even move. I like to maximize my work-out and the only time I can do that is when my body has fully recovered.

 

2.       Blogging- It’s good to write but not when my brain is fried. That’s why I started writing fewer posts this month. I was on break sharpening my saw.

 

IMPORTANT and URGENT- These are tasks that need to be done. Otherwise, my world will be a total mess…

1.       Cleaning, organizing and classifying extra stuff to SELL, DONATE or GIVE, THROW or SAVE- I woke up the next day after not sleeping the two days prior and I felt LAZYYYY. It is only through tackling very important tasks that would give me energy, and cleaning is one. I am glad I did because I certainly discovered so many treasures:

 

a.       I found good old love letters that made me laugh, cry and certainly sparked that beautiful feeling of being loved once again.

b.      I found valuable gifts like books, homemade trinkets and photographs that made my kids scream with joy like they have discovered hidden treasures from a cave.

c.       I found time to bond with them as they settled, sometimes in reverie waiting for another treasure to behold.

d.      I found a more peaceful and breathable home as all the excess are either already given or waiting to be sold.

e.      I found real treasures as I will literally sell them on Craigslist soon.

f.        I found an excuse avoid shopping.

g.       I found this is the best way to pave the birthday of our Savior and to welcome the New Year!

2.       Fulfilling Christmas Family Traditions- I can imagine how disappointing it is for my kids if I have but forgotten to lighten the mood of our household with our good ‘ole Christmas festivities and traditions. In other words, I can’t just simply skip decorating the gingerbread house activity because quite honestly, having done so with them was my biggest de-stressor.  At first we planned on doing the 12 days of Christmas but since there are more than 12 days of December before Jesus’ birthday, we kind of stretch the activities for fill the days, repeating some activities twice or thrice. The opposite of so-heavy-to-be-accomplished-that- ultimately-give-us-more-stress-than-merriment…  these are my-kids-approved activities:

 

 1.) Decorating our store-bought ginger bread house

 

 

2) Reading Nativity books to each other

3.) Singing Christmas songs

4.) Christmas baking night (on weekends)

 5.) DIY craft night (on weekends)

 6.) Driving around town to see decorated houses

7.) A family walk in the park (weather permitting)

8.) Snow sledding then soup for warm fuzzies and tummies (weather permitting, again)

 9.) Random Act of Kindness

10.) Christmas movie and popcorn (on weekends)

11.) Watch Angelica’s Christmas concert

 12.) Midnight Mass 

 … Some books explained the legends behind a Christmas recipe of a 12^th-night cake. There must be a connection between that and the “12^th Day of Christmas” song. It was written that the Christmas cake is made from yeast, which according to legend is a gift of the Christ Child. The Holy family trying to escape from Herod’s soldiers knocked on the door of the woman who was kneading bread. The woman wrapped her child in her dough. When the soldiers burst into their house and searched for the Child, they were unable to find Him. After they left, the woman gave the Child back to His mother. Suddenly the dough began to rise, and there was no end to the amount of bread the woman could bake from it.

 

 

We established our Christmas family tradition based on practicality of time, money and ability. Time- if it consumes too much preparing the activity then it’s not practical. Money- of course, it has to be within budget. Ability- there’s no point in making intricate decors if the kids do not possess the ability to use the glue gun. By keeping everything simple, there’s more room for joy and laughter.

 

So go ahead and grab your family around the table and start making memories. This is the time to get busy for it… the spirit of Christmas is a time to get busy with the important people in our lives, not stuff that overwhelms us.