The Fly Away Child

We took down the Christmas tree Friday night.

And since I had had sort of promised (threatened) to do it anyway, I went ahead and put some sugar cookies in the oven.

Nathan is very serious about frosting his cookies.

Steve put an “S for Smith” on his cookie. I told him if he held the cookie in front of his shirt, it would like like the “S in Superman.” So he did. And it did. Sort of.

Sarah ate a couple cookies and then suddenly remembered that we had forgotten to have anyone wear the traditional antler ears this year.

Alas! Oh no! Woe is us! Emergency! Code Red! Red Alert! Man the battle stations! Sound the alarm! (Insert other dramatic phrases at your leisure.)

And so . . . . to save the day (and the season) I present to you the Antler-Wearing Rudolph Girl.

As Nathan and Steve were rummaging around getting out the ornament boxes and tree box, Sarah took a few moments to sneak in some reading by the soon-to-be-dismantled Christmas tree.

It was the last quiet moment she would have for a while because as it turned out, her brother was in Wild Wacky Mode. All. Night. Long.

Even after Nathan had gotten up to help Steve get the unadorned tree back in the box, he was still being entertaining, as this shot so happily illustrates.

The worst thing about Christmas break is that it comes to an end. All too soon. And all too soon, fly-away-children disappear. Back into their other lives. Back into their other, motherless lives.

It was a happy month. But today is a sad day. Today is the day the wacky, wild College Dude gets on a plane to head back to Florida. I just hope his carry-on luggage is big enough to carry all the happy Christmas memories we are sending with him.

Today our house suddenly becomes one person quieter. One person emptier. One person sadder.

All because one annoying, beloved, noisy, fly-away child has flown away.