I cried several times over the weekend. Mostly happy-cry. But sometimes it was that cry where everything gets jumbled up together, and you aren’t sure which emotion is actually pouring down your face and making your nose turn red.

It started with, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Our daughter, Charity, and our son-in-law, Dan, had just released a Christmas album. (shameless plug). So Charity’s husband, Ryan, offered to play a little snippet while I snuggled a baby at their house.

Maybe you aren’t familiar with this particular Christmas carol, Dear Reader, but “Bells” will grip your soul. Especially in light of things like bombs exploding in Paris these days. Ryan wisely noticed that I was about to slip over the brink from silent weeping to actual sobs at the end of that song, so he said, “Hey, let’s follow up with something lighter. How about ‘Jingle Bells?'”

Poor Ryan. Maybe he doesn’t know me well yet. Or, maybe he didn’t take into account the fact that Charity and Dan had innocently tucked into the center of Jingle Bells a chorus of “Up on the Housetop.”

So, there I sat in the kitchen, rocking my fourth baby’s fourth baby, feeling all emotional, and suddenly Charity is belting out the lyrics to a song my mom sang to me every year at Christmas.

In an instant, I was six-years old again wearing candy-striped pajamas with a matching night cap, clutching my new Christmas doll. And, I was crying harder. Because I missed my mom, who was five hours away. But I was so happy to be with my grandchildren, who I miss all the normal days of the year. And it all just swirled together. If you are a girl, you know exactly what I mean.

Then, I glanced up through my tears and saw Ryan looking around the room as if to say, “I. Don’t. Know. What. Button. I. Pushed. But. Somebody. Turn. It. Off.”

Poor guy. He’s a great musician, a fantastic writer, a wonderful husband and father. But hand him a blubbering mother-in-law, and he is truly out of his league. So, of course, then I was laughing.

Eventually, I gained enough control to promise Ryan he hadn’t done anything wrong. I even managed to calm the baby who had joined in my tears. Then I promised Charity I’d just download the CD and listen to the whole thing on my own.

And, I did. With tissues on the side.