Just when you think you have it all figured out.....

So....as I was commenting on the pictures in the posts below....I described one as "Pseudo Christmas". Now, I know most of you may have never heard of the holiday called Pseudo Christmas. Right now you are scratching your head and squinting your eyes thinking about it.....what is this Pseudo Christmas of which she speaks???? "Oh my....do I need to run out and buy another gift?????"



Rest easy.....no need to panic, no need to rush out to the nearest 99% off sale to get just the perfect gift. "Pseudo Christmas" is an exclusive holiday we've claimed for ourselves!



You see....in this wonderful thing we call life, most of us find our one. We find that one, we take our 2 lives and make them 1, we begin to live our lives as a combo rather than a single. Right? Well.....sometimes the unthinkable happens, sometimes happily ever after becomes "what the heck happened???" And unfortunately.....there's more than just the original 2 that take the fall-out......



I've married a wonderful man. A man who is like the Phoenix. You know....the beautiful bird that rises from the ashes.



My dear husband .... I met him after the fall-out. He had met his 1 and they had made 3 amazing sons. But life took it's messed up, sideways, backwards directions and he ended up a single Dad that desperately wanted to turn those ashes into beauty.





When a marriage breaks up....certain things are lost. Things change. Traditions are tainted. My sweet husband decided he would not let that destruction take over. He was going to take charge. No, things wouldn't be exactly the same. Really....can Santa visit 2 houses for the same children??? But doesn't Santa only come on Christmas Eve??? Absolutely not! Santa, you see, knows to go to Moms house. BUT "Pseudo Psanta", well, he comes to Dads house. The children know....Pseudo Psanta is really Dad. The treats left aren't cookies and milk....but pretzels and soda. Out of the destruction rises a new joy. Something new, something fun, something that is totally their own. Instead of letting the bad take over.....my Brian let the new begin.





I find it spectacularly amazing! In my humble opinion, it takes a very special person to put aside all that had to be put aside......to build something so new. Yes, to some it's simple....they dismiss it. But when you really think about it...... that Pseudo Christmas and that Pseudo Psanta.... they laugh in the face of disaster and say.... "We're not gonna take it!"





So.....those pictures were of our Pseudo Christmas. The boys stay for almost a week during the Christmas break. We laugh, we eat, we play games, we watch movies. And on Pseudo Christmas Eve we put the kids to bed early, we pull out all the presents and wrap them up with brightly colored paper and bows and we carefully arrange the gifts under the tree. Brian "booby traps" the doors to their rooms..........so when they try to sneak out to peak at the gifts we KNOW. Of course..now, we literally have to wake them up for Pseudo Christmas morning! :-)




Yes, our children are "too old" to believe in Santa.....well, except for Zachery. But thankfully, they will NEVER be too old to believe in Pseudo Psanta!!