We're Parents: We're Hustlers

It’s official. We’ve entered the holidays – the most beautiful time of year. And it really is SO Beautiful. The white snow, the twinkling lights, sledding and hot cocoa and rosy cheeks and the wonderment of children on Christmas Eve and the magic of Santa Clause… The season of “Merry and Bright”. And Beauty, and more…

Yet, behind the merriment of it all – here we are, Parents, trying to “make a dollar outta 15 cents” like Shock G n’ 2Pac. Trying to somehow create the explosion of presents under our trees that our children so dearly want. Trying to figure out how we’ll pull this together while we struggle to pay our rising utility bills…You feel me?

I feel you.

You Got This. You’ll find a way, and you will create memory-worthy holidays. Because You – Parent – are a Hustler.

You’re no stranger to the game. I see you selling your goods to “Once Upon A Child” and slangin’ at the Mom2Mom sales – deciding which bill gets paid, and which ones wait – running carpools and clipping coupons and transferring debts to 0%.

The holidays just up the ante in the game of Life you’re already playing in – and you, Hustler, come from a long line of hustlers before you.

My great-grandmother used to save onion peels all year long. Come Easter, she would “dye” eggs with the saved peels. It wasn’t a “back to the land” movement she was following. It was all she had. But you can believe she wasn’t about to let her children go without dyeing eggs during the season.

Hustlin’.

Christmas didn’t simply “go away” as a favor to our forefamilies during the dark years of the Depression. The kids during those days hoped for goodies in their stockings and believed in Santa, too, just like ours do. Those parents – who had to wait in line for bread and milk, who had to carve out their difference between surviving or starving – had a lot less than today’s version of “broke”. Yet, they fell upon their ingenuity, utilized their strengths, their friendships. They found ways to make the holidays cozy.

Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies were born during those dark holidays. A mama by the name of Ruth Wakefield didn’t have the baker’s chocolate her “butter drop do” cookie recipe called for. She chopped up what she had left of a chocolate bar instead…the rest is some tasty history into chocolate chips and a story of a woman who made the most of what she had.

From Ruth… our fellow Hustler. Hustlin’: “To do things to get closer to the point you want to get.”

But this holiday season, don’t lose sight of what you’re actually Hustlin’ for. Presents, sure. Vacations…yeah yeah.

But your ultimate job here this season – the reason you Hustle and will continue to do so no matter what in the face of anything: We Parents protect “Merry and Bright” for our little and loves ones, even when times are anything but.

We don’t “fold” because the going is tough, and we don’t let our children see us sweat behind closed doors turning those cents into dollars. We keep their joyous spirits alive! We. Protect. Their. Joy. Teach them Beauty. Singing Christmas carols is free-as-free-can-be. Making a snowman doesn’t cost a thing. Laughing. Hugging. Loving.

But they want things. And they deserve things. And I want to give them all the things they want…

And we’ll find our way, Hustlers.

Saving our Swagbucks, nabbing our Craigslist deals and Ebay bargains, clipping our coupons, making our homemade everything, locking down our layaways. We may not be able to get everything we wanted to, but we’ll figure it out. Within our means. Working with what we’ve got. Just as the Hustlers did before us — For us.

Our children will soon forget most of the explosion under that tree, but they’ll never forget the way the holidays feel.

They’ll never understand all the beauty of the season if they only remember their parents stressed out about what they couldn’t buy.

Our true legacy as Parents during the holidays lies less in the gifts under the tree, and more in our ability to promote Joy. We Hustle to give our children the greatest gift of all — the cozy feeling of “Merry and Bright”. (Batteries not included.)

Happy Holidays, Hustlers.

Jen Wainwright is a writer, parent to three, and she’s been a stepparent for over 15 years. She discusses the great, and the not-so-great, details of parenting monthly in JEN’S ZEN on Great Lakes Bay Moms Blog.