All I Want for Christmas is… the flu?

My husband and I both grew up in homes where Christmas was a magical time.

So it is in our blood that this is just how it is.  Neither one of us is more into Christmas than the other… we are just both fully committed to the season.

And we have been playing this little game every Christmas since we have been married.  It is the “who got who the best Christmas present game.”  Now, I KNOW this is NOT the meaning of Christmas, and I know it has nothing to do with how much money we spend on each other, and I know our marriage would be just as wonderful without it.  But, nevertheless, it makes all of December a month of anticipation as multiple times each day we corner each other and say, “I totally won.”  It is just that one time each year that we go all out and spoil each other.  Also, I give my husband Valentine’s Day off – “let’s just go to dinner,” I tell him.   I don’t expect this kind of gift giving every possible holiday.  I have realized that Valentine’s comes a little too soon after Christmas, I mean it is already on the shelves at my grocery store!   I am just so grateful I have a husband who works as hard as he does to be a great provider and husband… I don’t need a grand showing every holiday.

So… here is how it all went down this Christmas.  The plan was to spend Christmas Eve at my mom’s house, come home and wake up Christmas morning and exchange our much anticipated gifts, and then travel to  my husband’s parents to spend a couple of days there full of parties and traditions.  It was all meant to be one great Christmas extravaganza.

Christmas Eve began by me giving my husband his first gift.  I had this planned all along… it was his Christmas toy and I wanted him to be able to play with it at my mom’s with all the guys around.  So I sat him on the couch and pulled out from behind the tree a 3 foot long package and set the goodness before him.  “What could this be?”  he asked, and I sat there clapping my hands telling him to “hurry and open it!”  It was an outdoor remote controlled helicopter.  Last year he got two little indoor helicopters (one from my mom and one from his parents), and he has flown them around our family room all year long.  So I found him one that is about 20 times bigger and is meant to be flown only outdoors.  And he was a VERY happy and giddy guy.

But, before he could charge the battery and dive into his new toy, he ran into the back room and came out with a gift hiding behind his back.  He wasn’t about to let me be the only one giving an early gift.  What does he pull out?  He had found a lovely spa in our town and had bought me a gift certificate for a pedicure!  I have had a one pedicure in my life, and ironically it was in India, so this is a total luxury to me.  Which is exactly what he wanted.

So off to Christmas Eve we went.  Our car was filled with food and presents and his helicopter. We had a wonderful time with my family, except for the part where my husband got about 1 hour of helicopter flight time before it busted on my mom’s front lawn.  But… who expects a flying toy to last forever?  New parts are being shipped to us as we speak.  I have a feeling that this is a gift that will keep on costing.

After all of the gifts, and movies, and food, and games, we headed home.  I then fluffed the pillows and vacuumed here and there to make sure that our home was ready for Christmas morning.  Breakfast supplies were in the fridge, stocking stuffers were ready to go… and we settled into bed.

In the middle of the night I awoke to find that my husband wasn’t in bed, so I got up to investigate.  I found him lying on the couch.  “You OK?”, I asked.  “I have the flu”, he responded.  The flu???   On Christmas?  That is not supposed to happen!  And the flu he had.  The rest of the night was spent trying to make him as comfortable as possible and consoling him as he was realizing that Christmas wasn’t going to be what he hoped this year.

Rather than our Christmas breakfast I had planned, I made him chicken soup.  He was so weak and tired it took him forever just to eat a few bites.  He then slept on and off most of the day and I spent the time watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.  By about four o’clock that afternoon he felt like he had enough strength to exchange gifts.  I felt so bad!  This is not what we had been anticipating all month long!  I didn’t want him to feel like this.  But he insisted, and so we did.

He started with his stocking.  It was full of treats that did not look good to someone who had the flu.  I told him just to dump it out and look at it later, but there was something that I wanted him to find at the bottom.  An adorable newborn onesie that said “My daddy makes me smile.”  This is our last Christmas where we will be a family of two… but I still wanted her to be a part of this one.  My stocking was full of lotions, lip glosses, fluffy socks and things bought from stores he would never otherwise voluntarily go into.  Just the thought of him picking them out makes me laugh and is such a gift.

Then we started pulling from under the tree.  It all culminated to the last two presents:  a watch for him and a diamond necklace for me.  Did he really get me that?  I couldn’t believe it!  I am not a flashy jewelry girl, and I really don’t wear a lot of any kind of jewelry.  But this!  He had found something that was made for me, and he knew it.  His look of confidence as I opened it was one of “I KNOW you are going to love this”.  And I do, so much!

We spent the rest of the evening admiring our new gifts.  My mom came by with some left overs from the night before (for me, not him).  And we put a movie on and spent Christmas night in our little home, together.

It took him a couple of days to get his strength back, which was just in time for an almost exact re-play of his flu, but rather this time I was the victim.  He woke up in the middle of the night to find me not in bed… “I have the flu” was my response when he found me on the couch.   And then he has spent the last couple of days nursing me back to health.  Which, by the way, at seven months pregnant, I find that a kicking and squirming baby does not feel good on one’s stomach at such a time.

But here is what I know.  Marriage is wonderful.  In sickness and in health, at Christmas or any other time.  There is such comfort in knowing you can depend on your spouse.  Especially when I was sick and I was so nervous that being sick and pregnant was not a good combination.  My husband was able to use his Priesthood and give me a blessing that would put me at ease and I am so grateful for that.  Out of all of the beautiful presents we spend so much time and money on, the real gifts that I truly desire, I actually have all of the time.