I remember the time I spent Christmas day working at Hooter's because I needed to make rent. The only inclination you would have had to it being Christmas at all were the Santa hats we wore. Because I don't have a huge family, once the childhood magic of the holidays wavered, Christmas was just another day. I have always longed to one day have a huge family, tons of people all around, & a Christmas Eve party with just enough dysfunction to make it funny, but that's just been a dream. Maybe someday I will have people to bake a million cupcakes for, but I digress.Kadence doesn't understand Christmas this year & probably won't next year either, so I have some time to adjust before I pull out all the stops on the Santa thing. When that time rolls around I plan on going all out, like my parents did (though I didn't get to believe in Santa for very long at all). I'll even be that annoying mom making her believe when she's 15 because I will threaten her with no presents. It's going to be a blast.
However, this year was relaxed. Of course, I put up a tree & lights all over the front of my apartment (and the upstairs neighbors). I wrapped presents & went to christmas shindigs. Christmas eve was spent eating chocolate and watching Netflix with my roommate, wondering aloud if this was what happens Christmas Eve when you become an adult.Christmas day was a relaxing one. In the future little fists will beat me awake at 6am, I am sure, but this year we made it til 9am. Hooray. My dad came over & we opened up presents. Kadence sat in her high chair probably wondering "WTF is going on & where's my breakfast, woman?!" while I tried to get her to rip paper off of boxes.
She got spoiled (as always) with an under the sea activity table from me; stacking rings, footie pajamas, clothes, sparkly baby boots, socks & a rattle from G-Ma; a huge stuffed ride on zebra & a stocking full of pacifiers from G-Pa, a soothing under the sea turtle & a huge story book from her Grandma Bunny, a bunch of clothes from Not-the-momma (my roommate), & even a super cute outfit from my roommates family. She is one lucky little girl with all the people that thought of her. (I seriously could not be more thankful!) I even got some good stuff. A north face jacket, yoga pants, 2 victoria secret bras, a sports bra, a charm bracelet, sparkly boots that match kadences, 2 board games, 2 pairs of leggings, a juicy couture charm, & a pair of AWESOME new nikes. 
After presents Kadence napped & then we went to my dad's (G-pa's) for Christmas lunch/dinner, which consisted of tons of steamed veggies (much to Kadence's liking), mashed potatoes, some vegan "chicken", rolls, & vegan cheese dip. It was awesome & all good for you, so no regrets about food for at least a few minutes (which is a first). 
We hung out at my dads for a few hours, Kadence & I both took a nap & then we came home, took a bath & Kadence went to bed. I spent Christmas night at my apartment with my roommate, and 2 friends, and then went to bed at a decent hour. Nothing fancy, but I cherished the reasonable bed time more than anything. So there ya have it folks, Christmas for the single mom. Next Christmas will be a whole different story, as Kadence will be with her dad, but this one was successful & fun. I will admit Christmas is
more fun with Kadence, especially all the cute pictures I get to take, all the cute clothes I get to wear, & the fact that we now have a sweet elf living on our shelf named Dimitri.
