On the Eighth Day of Katiemas, I Entered My Auntie Mame Era

File under: “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death”

Bonjour!

Of late, I’ve been celebrating the holidays through The Twelve Days of Katiemas. So far, I’ve eaten a bag of marshmallows (and a Taylor Swift sugar cookie). I may need to branch out.

Really getting into the holiday spirit is a way to form new positive habits after almost four years of cutting back and pulling away from activities and people (merci, Covid). I also want to shake off old anxieties and frustrations to head into a new year (and a new decade as I turn forty) with a renewed commitment to living life to the fullest.

🥂 Don’t Be Ridiculous!

I recently told L’Husband with all the bad news and wars and crises, it feels like we’ve forgotten how to have fun. We don’t smile or laugh as much as we used to. We need to rekindle our joie de vivre, the very essence of joyful living.

No one better exemplifies joyful living than Auntie Mame, the eponymous star of the 1958 film starring a fabulous Rosalind Russell. Mame is intelligent. She’s sassy. She’s uncompromising. She lives and loves and laughs hard. She rallies in the face of adversity and embraces new endeavors with gusto. She’s the heroine we need right now, bien sûr.

If you’ve never seen Auntie Mame, then for Pete’s sake, drop everything and make it happen, toute de suite!

💃 Live, Live, Live!

The title of Auntie Mame’s memoir is Live, Live, Live – and so I shall. It’s the perfect personal cri du cœur for my post-pandemic, postpartum life, as I prepare for a new year and a new decade.

And so, to inaugurate my Auntie Mame era, I will honor the Eighth Day of Katiemas with the following festive activities:

Wear a wild Christmas sweater and socks.

Have two mugs of hot chocolate because it’s gray and cold and drizzly and I’m an adult and can do what I want.

Admire our garland of received holiday cards from friends and family.

🦷 Toddler Update: Teething Just in Time for Christmas

We had good run of teething earlier this year: Four months strait of tooth after tooth just popping up and bursting through sore and inflamed little gums. Months of midnight Tylenol doses and drool and chewing on literally anything but an actual baby teether. So we know Le Bébé’s particular Signs of an Impending Tooth well, from pressing ears on shoulders to drooling to sticking fingers in the mouth.

In those four months, the kiddo got ten teeth on top of the six he already had. Now only the four molars remain outstanding, the biggest and probably most painful of all the chompers. It’s been a lovely reprieve with a happier babe, but not without a little voice in my head inquiring, “When will the molars start?”

Well, they start now.

Just two days ago, the little one started chewing on his fingers and slobbering. I can’t help but feel relieved (Let’s do this! Four to go!) and disappointed (But it’s Christmas!!!). Without fail, Le Bébé either doesn’t feel well or is in a grumpy mood on holidays or days off or family occasions… His first birthday (puke virus). His baptism-slash-birthday party (teeth). Labor Day (who knows?). Thanksgiving Day (tired?). And now, possibly, Christmas Day.

It will be okay and we will take care of him as best we can. We’re going to take a relaxed approach (as we try to do with all things) and cuddle and eat cookies and open gifts and enjoy each other as much as possible. Auntie Mame would expect nothing less!

🕯️ Embrace Your Season

Thank you for reading about my journey to relax and enjoy the holidays and make time for rest and self-care at the end of a long year. Don’t forget to live, live, live!

What are you excited about for Christmas week?

Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!

À votre santé,

Katie