matching tracksuits

"You girls got to play all day yesterday; today, you'll be helping out a lot." Thus began the day, and thus the girls began their day of helping, much of which was more spiritual than physical. Still, transferring the clean dishes from the dishwasher and moving the dirty breakfast dishes from the table to the dishwasher was a good start

And so for a change, every year's is not the same, at least at the start. The girls all chip in throughout the morning, taking care of the Boy as he horses about,

or cutting veggies for the Christmas morning breakfast. (How odd I used to find it that a Polish breakfast might include a salad of some sort or other; how odd I now find it that I used to find it odd.)

It's always amusing to me how a little Tom Sawyering can turn anything into a game for kids this age. At one point, one of the girls suggested they go up L's room to play. "No," the other two replied, "we want to help."

As the day turned to afternoon, though, the Girls' help became more spiritual, less physical. T took out her holiday music and began playing for the Girls as they sang carols.

They began with "Angels We Have Heard on High,"

and followed it with "Go Tell It on the Mountain," to which E added some avant garde accompaniment.

As we continued cutting, chopping, boiling, spicing, setting the table,

and whining, the girls performed "Silent Night,"

and moved quickly to a very interesting arrangement of "Jingle Bells."

Of course the girls wouldn't be The Girls if they didn't add something silly to the mix. T sat this one out, but C and L had great fun recording their version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

By this time, though, it was time to stop with the silliness and get started on the main courses for the evening. I went out to fire up the grill and the Girls all transformed. The Boy waited though. "He's still wiping his nose on his sleeve," K explained. "We'll wait with him." And so picture-perfect girls bounded about the house while I grilled salmon, fried an improvised invention (oyster and crab cakes, which I think I'll try again), and Babcia looked on with a smile.

Once Nana and Papa arrived, the rest of the evening went by in a blur. We began as always: Papa read from the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 2.

I scooted about, taking pictures, directing L to stop messing with E and listen to Papa, and generally worrying that the crab/oyster cakes might not be as tasty as I imagined.

The dinner itself went by in a blur, which is always the case, and I always find it somewhat tragic. So much time spent preparing barszcz z uszkami, crab/oyster cakes, mushroom soup (where did those mushrooms come from? surely not Poland!), cabbage and mushroom pierogis, salmon, potatoes, and salad, cheese cake, Polish sweets, and a million other delicacies and it's gone in about an hour. We try to slow down; we all comment on the tragedy of it all; and every single year, we all inhale it. This year was no different, which is both a complement to the chefs and a sad illustration of how quickly we all tend eat.

For the kids, though, it was normal: there was only one thing on their minds. The presents.

So we moved to the living room, listened to more caroling,

and eventually began opening presents.

We tried out some of the gifts

and lamented and celebrated that such an evening occurs only once a year.

Previous Years

Wigilia 2003

Wigilia 2004

Wigilia 2005

Wigilia 2006

Wigilia 2007

Wigilia 2008

Wigilia 2009

https://matchingtracksuits.com/2010/12/25/wigilia-2010

Wigilia 2011

Wigilia 2012

There’s a mess in the kitchen as the baking, baking, baking starts in the morning and extends into the evening.

There’s a mess in the Girl’s room as three little girls and a little boy start playing in the morning and finish up in the evening.