I love Christmas. I love all that it represents, I love the smells, the colorful decorations, the Christmas music, the anticipation and joy on my children’s faces and mostly, knowing that a new year is about to begin and in a just a few months, we will be rid of all traces of snow (pretty, but I could live without it for a year or two.) What I don’t love is the traffic, the overspending, the obligations, and the exhaustion that inevitably sucks the life right out of me. So this year I decided I was through with all the hoopla associated with Christmas. I planned on getting my shopping done early, going totally low key and then I had a revelation of sorts. I made the announcement that on Christmas day, we were starting a new tradition. We would visit with our family on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas day, we would be staying home in our pajamas, eating baked macaroni & cheese and watching Christmas movies. And let me tell you, it was the best decision I ever made.
Christmas Eve day, we baked and cooked from morning until evening. Family came, we ate, we laughed, opened presents and out the door they went. Do I sound happy? Well I was. They don’t take offense to it. They are low key and not overly sentimental, just like me. They know that for the last 15+ years, the responsibility of getting everyone together and making it a merry Christmas has fallen on my shoulders, and I am just tired of doing all the work.
Christmas morning came and we were so tired from the previous day, that we even skipped church, but I can tell you, it was the most glorious Christmas ever! We were in our pj’s all day, watching Tim Hawkin’s DVD’s, laughing until we cried ( and thank you Tim. You are a gift that just keeps on giving.) We ate nothing but junk and the most work I did all day was lift my hand to my mouth. You can call that a gift to myself.
Hope you all had a wonderful *your* kind of Christmas!
DEEBQ9TJXS26
2 comments