ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

The gifts are wrapped and ready to go!

On the eighth day of Christmas... I felt like Superman!

A couple weeks ago, I chatted with my friend and co-worker Dave L. about how good it feels to absolutely own the day. There are so many days that kick the crap out of us, but every so often, when everything falls just right, we can nail it out of the park.

That's how I felt about yesterday.

Coming off a weekend of working a pair of college basketball games, trying to make cookies with the Wife and the Little One and spending Sunday night with family at a holiday gathering, it seemed Monday was an opportune time to take a personal day. With Christmas less than a week away, there was a ton left for me to get done.

Initially, I thought I'd keep the Little One out of daycare and take him with me for the day. I was really torn, so I talked about it with the woman who watches him every day while we are at work. She made three really good points:

1. Each 10-minute thing you need to get done will take two hours to do if you have him.

2. Getting him in and out of the car and the stroller for each store you have to go to will be tough for his daily routine.

3. If he doesn't go with you, that means he gets to hang out with her all day.

She cracked a big smile as she said the last one. Knowing that he is with someone who likes being around him really helped prevent me from feeling like a total heel for not spending every waking moment with him when I wasn't at work.

With the Little One at daycare, I made sure to make the most of the day. From his daycare, I headed straight to Lowe's to get a couple of gifts for the Wife. I'm not blowing any secrets here, since I was getting something she told me to get for her. 

Funny how a piece of paper can
cause so much emotion.

After Lowe's, I swung over the City Hall to get a couple copies of the Little One's birth certificate. It's a piece of paper we've been meaning to get for four months now. I don't know how many times we have talked about getting it, but for some reason, walking out of the building with his birth certificate lifted an enormous weight off the shoulders. As an added bonus, reading over the information on the certificates caused a rush of emotions and memories from his birth. 

From City Hall, it was on to Stop and Shop to buy candy for stocking stuffing, as well as a gift for the Little One's daycare provider. We've simply got to show appreciation for the person who cares for our world every day.

Next it was on to Michael's, where I avoided the urge to slam my own head into a wall repeatedly. Something about that store - and Bed, Bath and Beyond - turns me into a brat. I hate going, and I hate when the Wife wants to go. Women and my father love Michael's. Not me. I find that I really want to knock stuff off the shelves and throw a full-on hissy fit the moment I walk through the door.

But yesterday, I was on a mission. Got in, found some stuff for a project gift that the Wife and the Little One can do together, and got out. I held in the scream that tried so hard to escape while I was walking through the aisles.

I pushed my luck and tried looking in Christmas Tree Shops next. I lasted five minutes of mindless walking before I had to run out of that store. There was less thought put into the layout of Christmas Tree Shops than any other store in history, and I include both Job Lot and Ikea in the competition.

It was just after 11:30 a.m., and I had now been out on the town - or at least the local shopping district - for more than 3 hours. But my shopping was done. To ease the pain of Michael's (that place lingers with you), I got lunch at the newly-opened 5 Guys and headed home.

After plowing through the burger (jalapenos and hot sauce), I put the final touches on a special gift I've been putting together for the Wife. I can't give too much away, but maybe it'll be a weekend digital short here at some point.

With the project completed, the wrapping began. Wrapping Christmas gifts might just be my favorite part of the season. It's not that I am good at wrapping (I am absolutely not). There's just something about wrapping a gift for someone that makes me forget for a few minutes that the world is still moving along. While I wrap gifts, I think about the people gifts are for, and why a particular gift made me think of them. It's cheesy as hell, but it makes me smile.

Midway through the wrapping, I ran out of tape. Happens every year. So it meant a run to CVS for more in order to get back home and finish up. Did I mention that I also got six loads of laundry washed and folded while the rest of this was all going on? 

Before I knew it, yesterday turned into last night, and exhaustion swept over my body. The Wife had just finished feeding the Little One and handed him to me so I could put him to bed. He was just about down for the count himself, and he tucked his head under my chin, clutched his fingers around the collar of my shirt and fell asleep.

Good as I felt about how the rest of the day went, none of it came close to how I felt at that moment with the Little One out cold on my shoulder. For a few moments, I was flying. Damn right… Superman.