Christmas: November 2005 Archives

After Colby was born and expanding to my nieces and nephew the tradition of Christmas pajamas began. I selected flannel material and nostalgic patterns and made pajamas. Nightgowns with sleep caps were made for the girls, nightshirts and booties for the one boy. The kids loved it. It was something special "Aunt Annie" did every year just like taking them for the Christmas photo for my parents. I stopped making the pajamas myself about the time Colby turned 14. It was far easier to find nice pajamas in stores and the quality of the flannel I was able to get was crap. After a few washings the flannel would begin to develop holes -which to this day makes me hate flannel fabric sold in fabric shops. After Thanksgiving everything kicks into high gear around my house. The beds get dressed in the Christmas bedding of flannel sheets and puffy holiday themed comforters that the kids love and they get to wear pajamas decorated with a Christmas theme. It creates alot of excitement. Last month I was at a 40% off sale and I picked up J. and Gracie a cute pair of flannel pajamas which they have not seen yet and will get to wear beginning the night after Thanksgiving dinner. The past dozen years I have found myself expanding on my pajama theme and I also buy brand new pajamas for Christmas Eve so that on Christmas morning they are bright and shining in their brand new pj's and my photos turn out great! I found an online clearance for pajamas for kids and ordered Gracie a pair of red pj's with matching robe and slippers. J. will not be with us until New Years so I did not buy special Christmas Eve pj's for her. For Colby who has far more grown up tastes now I chose pink silk pj's with the matching komono. For myself I have chosen red/burgundy velour with the matching long length gown. I am dying to wear those!! Thick and luxurious is the only way I can describe it. My kids LOVE the pajama tradition. It is something they look forward too each year just as much as Santa. J. has adapted well and also looks forward to the new pajamas. I buy pajamas periodically throughout the entire year. The kids love the summer pj's and the first pj's of fall. They are pajama hounds loving to stay in their pj's on lazy saturdays watching tv or playing indoors especially on rainy days. I am guilty too of loving pj's and soft gowns far too much. I could spend every day in pajamas. The past two Christmas Eves there has been a hitch in my pajama tradition. Steven hates pajamas. He doesn't own a bathrobe or slippers. Each year I have asked him about pj's for Christmas and each year he tells me if I buy them he will not wear them. Just last week he told Colby he suspected I was going to buy him a robe and slippers for Christmas. Because he reads this journal I cannot tell if you if I did or if I didn't. It will be have to be a surprise for all. It is not like I would buy him kiddie pj's -though the idea has surfaced with the cowboy themed pj's. But on serious thought I would most likely chose a flannel pant, long sleeved T and a black or other dark colored terrycloth robe. I wouldn't choose slippers for him. Steven is just not a slippers kind of guy. I would choose the lined bootie -he has the coldest feet in the world in winter! He sticks them to me!!! I suppose there are women out there who would be happy to be married to a man who doesn't schlep around the house in pj's or sweats all the time. I am one of those women. But here's the thing. When Steven wakes up in the morning he jumps out of bed (yes, briskly!) and puts on his clothes for the day, jeans and a shirt. (On week days it is up and into the shower immediately then into the clothes I have laid out the night before.) There is no lolligagging about. He is either sleeping in his boxers or fully dressed. There is no middle of the road point for him. What the hell is up with that kind of behavior? Is it a Yankee thing that I am new to discover? Who gets straight out of bed on the weekend and gets fully dressed BEFORE they even have coffee? Is there something terribly wrong with my Christmas Eve pajama tradition? Do any of you have husbands who refuse to wear pj's (or sweat pants) and slippers? What is the deal with not wanting a warm bathrobe to wear on a cold winter morning sipping coffee by the fire? Somebody help me to understand this behavior.