O-mama - Opinionated Moms

Ahh, the perfect Christmas just like a Norman Rockwell painting.  Everyone picture perfect, well dressed with just the perfect gift and the perfect wreath on the front door.  Everyone needs to embrace these traditions at the holidays.  Cozy, homey perfection.   You’ve gotta have a goal, right?   

Well, this year, how about a new way of thinking? 

How about cutting ourselves some slack and taking a “Nobody’s Perfect” philosophy. Norman captured a single perfect moment. If it was a video image, however, we would have heard the kids' bad manners and the family debate over the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Our families also look pretty perfect in our Christmas card - one single moment captured.  It's just a frozen second of perfection.  Reality isn't that pretty all the time.  All around we see lots of perfection on HGTV, in magazines and store windows...seemingly mocking us.  Probably some of us think “Gee, it’s so easy for them to be perfect, to look perfect and be perfect, so why can’t my house look like that?”  The perfect Christmas tree, the perfect house, the perfect gift, the Normal Rockwell painting!  But, the reality is behind those perfect pictures are shoppers, stylists and camera crews.  Perfection is fake, prickly and uncomfortable. Perfection is over-rated.  

The Christmas tree decorated with home-made shrinky dinks and paper maché ornaments is the real deal.  Husbands struggling to hang the lights...a little crooked, but most of them work.  Neighbors dropping off homemade treats with messages of good will.  Kids so excited they don't even know what to do with themselves.  Christmas cookies that don't look at all like Rudolf, but they taste good anyway.  Just another way to define "perfect."

It is a magical time of year, so let it happen...see what magic is in store for you and yours.  Laugh at the imperfections, enjoy the homespun flair of the fruit cake and soak in the appreciation for friends and family.  You have to take the imperfect stuff and realize that it’s all perfect in its imperfection.  Really, it’s just in the way you look at it.  

Like the scene in the movie Parenthood when the kid is "ruining" the school play is equally distressing to some of the parents and life affirming to others in the audience.   It’s the perfect analogy for life in a crazy way.   It’s the Normal Rockwell school play with real life mixed in. Perfection!

So, this season of magic and new beginnings, try and focus on the embracing the imperfect.  Delight in the small and simple; take pleasure in the little MOMents between family and friends.   Don’t stress over the spills and the quirks.  Make cookies, sing songs and watch an old movie on TV.   Be together and laugh a lot.  Create some imperfectly perfect memories with the ones you love.  Let's start the New Year feeling kind of perfect, instead of being absolutely perfect for a change.   No one is perfect, so don't sweat the small stuff MAMAs!  

Cheers to a new approach to perfect!