Our whole family was really excited to wake up to a white winter wonderland this morning. The kids awoke bright and early, rushed to their windows . . . and were disappointed to find that nary a snowflake had fallen last night.
A few minutes later, though, someone glanced out the window again and noticed a few little flurries drifting down.
As soon as there was enough snow for sledding and a good-natured snowball fight, Joy bundled up and went out to play with some neighbor girls.
After she came inside, we drank some hot cocoa, turned on Christmas music, then spread all of the kid-friendly ornaments out on the sofa and let the kids go to town decorating our (now fully lit!) tree. Meanwhile, Phillip and I hung ornaments from the fragile-so-don't-touch-them-unless-you're-a-grown-up ornament box. Of course, the big kids wanted to hang ornaments from the grown-up box too, and we decided they were old enough to be careful with them.
I'm happy to report that no ornaments were harmed in the decorating of this tree.
I'm happy to report that no ornaments were harmed in the decorating of this tree.
Once our tree was trimmed, the kids went upstairs to read Christmas books (and totally ignore some nearby laundry that needed folding), while snow continued gently falling outside our windows. This pleasant, wintry day reminds me of the Danish term "hygge" (pronounced "HUE-guh") which is often translated to mean enjoying simple, cozy pleasures, especially with people you love. I'd like to get in touch with our family's Danish roots and make Christmastime less about stress and more about hygge this year.
Incidentally, my favorite hygge quote was written by a British journalist who said, "Hygge is so crucial to living Danishly that the other day on the motorway, I saw a camper van driving along with lit candles in the windows. This is probably illegal but Vikings don't tend to be too hung up on health and safety."
No comments:
Post a Comment