the day after

When the chaos and uproar of opening presents is done, and the floor looks like a tornado came through and dropped colorful debris over everything, there’s a kind of quiet that settles in.  Everyone is caught up in playing with new toys and trying on new clothes, setting up new tech and even the animals have worn themselves out.

And my family is all grown adults (for some valued of adult anyway)!

Still, I think that’s some of my favorite time on Christmas day.  Before we’ve gotten up to start the clean up, while we’re still sharing our presents with family…it’s a kind of happiness that only comes there, in the family time, where we can be geeks and dorks and excited about things that make us happy.

Of course, then comes the clean up and the shift to getting Christmas dinner on the table.  Sure, we keep playing as the day goes on, maybe even break out the board games, which leads to a whole different kind of family time.  You haven’t lived until you’ve played Cards Against Humanity with your 70 year old mother and internet-raised nieces!

But, like all other good things, the time comes when the day must end and family scatters…though at this point, I’m the only one not living under that roof, and then comes the long drive home.  And the day after…

It’s a bit of a let down, I guess, for the day after.  All the waiting and anticipating and chaos is done and somehow, you’re expected to re-enter the working world as if none of it happened at all.