Overheard at. . . Home

“What smells?”

Ummm, yes, that would be elf on the shelf. Granted my daughter’s elf is rather feisty and loves to hide in crazy places. But apparently the floor lamp was a really bad idea. So, my daughter comes downstairs this morning, ready to search for him and instead finds his whole side burned to a crisp. To be honest, as sad as I was for her, I was just happy the whole thing didn’t turn out worse. Note to parents…. Keep an eye on that elf and do NOT let him hide anywhere near heat!

This, though, is what the holidays are really all about. We plan and plan. We strive for perfection- the perfect tree, the perfect turkey, the perfect Christmas eve vignette. And yet still, things go wrong, and it is only through magic that the Holiday reaches its own, unique, and often memorable, perfection.

It reminds me of a Christmas dinner my sister prepared. She was (and still is) an amazing cook. And so, though she was only in high school, she pulled together a lovely Holiday dinner. The meat was out, on the counter, ready to be served. The mashed potatoes were in the bowl next to it, along with the vegetable and the rest of the meal. She reached up into the cupboard to get the plates down and… The entire shelf fell. Since it was the top shelf, it hit the one below it, which hit the one below that. China shattered everywhere. The kitchen counter and all the food was covered in shards.

I remember sitting in the dining room next door and listening to the cacophony of crashes thinking, Oh no, this can’t be good. I don’t remember what we ended up eating for that holiday dinner… but all of these years later it is still a favorite family story. Hilarious in its sheer magnitude of destruction.

As the holidays get into full swing and your own plans begin to unravel, I wish you the magic, which, just like in the wonderful children’s book The Little Princess, by Frances Hodges Burnett, “won’t let those worst things ever quite happen.”

I’d love to hear your “worst things” holiday stories. Leave a comment and let me know and I will enter you in my December drawing where one lucky commenter will win a $10 donation to the non-political charity of their choice.

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