The Twelve Days of Christmas Movies

Up for a new tradition for the holidays? Try creating a list of twelve Christmas movies in twelve days! Including Samantha and Mitch, we each got two movies to add to the list. No one argued what movies were on the list, although we debated whether or not Die Hard was a Christmas movie. It turns out that it is according to a film historian.  However, we removed Love, Actually for The Little Drummer Boy because there was a whole lot more sex in the movie than Lisa realized. 

It was fun sitting down each night to stick with watching one each night from December 13 to Christmas Eve. Even Grant stuck it out for twelve straight nights!  Actually, I saw some movies that I have never watched all of or watched in decades; Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Little Drummer Boy. Unlike today, in the days of streaming services, forty years ago you paid attention to the TV section of your newspaper to see Santa Claus is Coming to Town or you waited another year.  

We saved the list so we don't repeat next year. And with so many Christmas movies, it will be decades before we have to start over! 

  

T'was the Night Before Christmas

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house. 

The luminaries were lit along the roadside  at the behest of my spouse. 

The house was clean and the rooms upstairs became quiet.

This is so much better that previous year's riot.

We don't do reindeer food or cookies and milk by the fireplace. 

Yet, there is something to be said for a good helping of chilled Buffalo Trace.

The last of the presents were placed under the tree.

In hopes that in the morning, Christmas magic might still spring free.

While we search for peace in the world with all our might, 

There is peace in this small home tonight.

To borrow a line from my favorite Christmas tale that has been spun, 

"God bless us, everyone."

 

A License for Anxiety

This is a new chapter in the family journal; one filled with anxiety and trepidation. 

TJ is now a licensed driver in North Carolina and can drive on his own. Very few things should scare a parent more than a teenager with a license and a vehicle.  I know that from the moment that he pulls out of the driveway until the moment he parks the car at home that I will worry.  

From my younger years as a Trooper I have seen the results of accidents where teens were at the wheel. A common saying then, and now, "What's more dangerous than one teenager in a car? Two."  According to the CDC, "accidents (unintentional injuries)" remain the highest cause of teen mortality. As a parent you spend a decade and a half protecting your kids from the things that can harm them. You baby proof the outlets in the house. You watch them on the playground before they climb too high. You don't let them play in the driveway without making sure they don't chase a ball into the street. With some kids, watching them is a full-time job. Then, one day, your legacy, your future, your progeny can go out on their own in a car.  You ask yourself if you have done enough to prepare them, and the answer is usually, "No."

When TJ started driving, I was the main parent who sat next to him. for the most part I remained cool and collected. One time while we were driving on I-40 to the beach I noticed we were going fast but I couldn't see the speedometer. I casually asked TJ how fast we were going. With his hands at the "ten and two" position he quickly glanced down and back up and said, "85."  I gently, but firmly suggested that he back off to about 75mph.  I have only had to yell twice, with one of those times scaring him because he failed to see the car coming at him that he was about to pull out in front of. He was sacred enough that his eyes welled up - despite him trying to brush it off with, "Dad, I got it."  Again, have I done enough to prepare him?

Lisa, ever the smart one to leverage technology, found an App that tracks all of the family members but more importantly, gives the speed at which people are driving and notifies you if there is an abrupt stop indicating a crash. Now we can track TJ behind the wheel and hold him accountable when he returns home. I know there are video cameras and other technology we can add to the car for both safety and accountability.   

It will take a couple of years before TJ has the confidence of driving; driving in the dark, rain, heavy traffic, and long distances. His confidence will be commensurate with my anxiety easing up - but never really going away.