Alex is a good helper

I use this forum as a sounding board--a place to vent a bit of my frustration--but today I must register what a great helper Alex was yesterday. We started the process of doing the Christmas decorations. He was excited and truly, truly, helpful. Last year decorating was a chore in which no one else showed much interest. This year, Alex begged me to put up the tree, and he helped haul boxes from the basement, helped hold parts of the tree as I put it together, helped unpack decorations, helped decorate, etc. etc. He was a trooper, and he was genuinely helpful. What a blessing!

I think the a big difference in Alex of late is directly related to me taking iron and having more energy. Instead of hearing myself say "maybe later," I hear myself say "yes!" Now, I don't want to heap guilt on myself and say I'm responsible for all of Alex's poor choices over the past six months, but a parent with energy is way better than a parent without, and parenting matters.

I am particularly proud of my mantle this year. I used real greens from a tree that blew over when the last blast of Ike hit central Ohio a few months back. I think it looks very nice... The overall effect (with the vacuum cleaner) is very cheery!