If life looked something like Instagram, Christmas with a baby would be the closest thing to paradise on earth. Adorable creatures dressed as Santa Claus, dressed as reindeer or happy playing with their gifts.
But, oh friends, how different reality is. Not worse, I know that. But certainly different. And although Christmas is a magical time for children -especially as they have minimal use of reason- for parents it is more like Homer's Odyssey. Is it worth the trip? Definitely. But that does not free you from the thousand siren songs that you will hear along the way.
Traveling with a baby is the most
And since we have mentioned the issue of traveling with children, let's address it. Because traveling by car with a baby, and more in winter, It's the closest you'll ever be to being a nomad. Trolley, portable highchair, bathtub and with a bit of bad luck, even folding crib, in addition to several suitcases full of molts and diapers, they look at you challenging from the sidewalk as saying: “even if you hire a docker you will fit everything in your trunk". In the end, it fits, even if you take a suitcase as a co-pilot while your partner tries to entertain the little one so he doesn't have to stop at each gas station to play for a while.
Travel plane instead it is an exercise of vital minimalism. For not paying an extra suitcase, you discover how little you can survive and the amount of things that you really do not need neither you nor your baby. Even so, passing the security checkpoint with cart, baby pots, baby in arms and other various accessories should be Olympic sports.
And if you opt for the train or the bus, be prepared to distract him in a thousand imaginable ways during the hours of the trip so as not to suffer the sharp stares of those travelers who do not empathize with what it is to be a father if he cries.
My kingdom! My kingdom to recover the routine!
For weeks, even months, you've worked hard to try to get your baby to get used to a routine and, more or less, always eat and sleep at the same time. And that gives you peace and joy.
But Christmas comes and everything goes to hell. Unknown places, new faces and family gatherings that leave the baby with such a rush of emotion that he does not sleep even if Morpheus himself comes to sing a babysitter.
That, not to mention meals, which is a separate issue.
Say goodbye to prawns
If your little one is, that, very small, everything is easier: breast or bottle, and everyone happy. But if you have already started eating, and you like it, it is more than likely who wants to throw everything on the table: from the claws of a spider crab to a peladilla.
So there you are, trying to eat your special Christmas menu that you have prepared with so much effort (because they do not sell baby lamb with potatoes), with a thousand eyes watching that you can not catch anything you should not eat (or that nobody gives it to you, because "what's the matter, it's Christmas"), don't throw any drinks or stretch the tablecloth and brown bundle. And by the time you have noticed, your brother-in-law has eaten all the prawns and the good ham.
They give him what they give him, he will prefer the box and the wrapping paper
Not because it is a topic, it is no longer true: young children like a good wrapping paper or a box more than whatever it contains. To my daughter sometimes I even wrap empty boxes just for the joy it gives her to unwrap it and play with the paper and the box. It is much more ecological and economic. And if you want to be the father of the year, spend your hard time on papers of different colors, textures and “crunches” when crumpled. Or put something that sounds inside that box. Party guaranteed at a reasonable price.
Tree? No thanks
Riding a Christmas tree or a nativity scene with a baby that has started crawling or walking is a risky sport. However much you try to move it away or make it inaccessible, you will find a way to reach it and disassemble it thoroughly. Not to mention the danger of swallowing a small piece.
It is true that it seems like something is missing at home, like it is not Christmas without a tree blinking with colored lights, so for this year's photos I will put it in the background with Photoshop.
And of course, forget about the perfect photos
Speaking of photos, I think of the first Christmas with my daughter, when I had barely turned the month, the best photo I have is a half blurred half moved, crying in the arms of her great grandmother with a reindeer pajamas next to the Christmas tree.
With a little luck, this year, which is already older, I can get some instantaneous instagram worthy of Instagram, although the truth is that I am happy with my blurry photos and my clear memories. Because although Christmas with a baby is not a movie, you have in your arms a gift that neither Santa Claus nor the Magi can ever match.
