Magic Christmas Jammies

Have you ever been so excited to start your own Christmas traditions that you didn't have the forethought that you might not be able to keep it up? 

I have!

I was SO super excited for Jameson's first Christmas that I started
"Christmas jammies"

When he would fall asleep on Christmas Eve I would change his jammies so that when he woke up he had brand new ones on.

I did it even on his first Christmas even though he was only 6 months old.

I continued this when Madalyn was born.

I'll never forget when he was three and he walked out of his room and said
"we have NEW jammies on! Santa changed our jammies."
He was so excited.

He and Madalyn would talk about it the night before Christmas.

They wondered what their new jammies would look like.

Jameson has a memory like a steel trap and still knows all the jammies he got.

I didn't think ahead that my tiny little kids would someday weigh over 60 lbs and trying to change their jammies while they were sleeping would turn into a chore of epic proportions.

Luckily they are both pretty heavy sleepers, but a few years ago I realized that there was no way I could continue this.

Madalyn was almost 5 and Jameson was 6.

They shared a room and slept in bunkbeds.

I knew it would be near impossible for me to change Jameson's jammies on the top bunk so I convinced them to both sleep in Madalyn's bottom bunk.

I tried to get them to sleep in old jammies that would be easy to take off and I bought new jammies that I thought would be easy to put on.

I had a great plan and it went like this:
The kids had been asleep for awhile so I knew they wouldn't wake up.

I slipped Jameson's jammie bottoms off and then Madalyn's

I thought that if I switched back and forth there would be less chance of them waking up.

I move back to Jameson and put on his new jammie pants.

I have to lift up his lower half to get them up over his bum.

Crap, he is heavy.

I get them on and move to Madalyn.

She doesn't sleep as hard so I have to be extra careful.

She is much easier than Jameson because she doesn't weigh as much.

I move onto the shirts.

I lift Jameson's upper body into the sitting position and his head flops forward eyes wide open.

ABORT ABORT goes through my head.

I lay him back down.

I'm sweating and my heart is pounding.

I move back to Madalyn

Lift her up slip off her shirt and then just slip her new jammies on.

Whew, she is done and snuggled back down in her pillow.

I now have to tackle the sleeping 65lb shirtless giant.

I lift him up and the giggles start.

What in the heck have I started???
I realize then there is no way I can continue this because the kid aren't getting any smaller

His head and arms flop back.

While I hold his back with one arm I try and get the shirt over his head.

All while trying not to laugh and sweating.

I get the shirt over his head and now I have to get his jello arms into the sleeves.

I am sure that all of this took about 5 minutes, but I felt like it was taking hours!

I finally get his shirt on and lay him down, but I couldn't get it pulled down so it is bunched up under his armpits.

It is going to have to just stay there.

I go to the living room and flop myself on the sofa and tell The Farmer
"I can't do that next year they are too big"

So, now I just fold their jammies and put them on the end of their bed and they change themselves before they come out of their rooms.
It only sparked one question
"I wonder why Santa didn't change my jammies"

To which I replied "you are probably just getting too big"

That was the end of the questions.
Thank goodness!

Blessed is me...