Today was Christmas, the season of perpetual hope if you will. Some are celebrating the birth of a baby, some are celebrating the solstice and still others are simply celebrating a day off work or school (or not). Whatever your reason for the season, if you are glad it is over, you are not alone.
As parents, we look forward to Christmas. We plan and we save, we start buying gifts early, we bake and we shop and we scheme to keep that one guy alive and going... you know who I'm talking about... not Elvis, the other one. We spend months figuring out what to buy, hiding the gifts, adding our special touches, and developing family traditions. It's a lot of pressure, though, Christmas. If you get the right gift, your kids will let you know, if you don't, they'll definitely let you know. How do you keep them from becoming too materialistic like Lucy? Poor girl never gets what she really wants... real estate. Do it right, don't get caught. Oh, please don't get caught... you'll kill the magic of Christmas. Don't. Get. Caught.
If you add family into the mix, it turns into raisin bran with two scoops of fruit. Holy cow. I know in my family, there is more planning that goes into Christmas logistics than a troop movement into Afghanistan. Grandma one has to have this day, but Grandma two only has that day off, and Grandma three just went to the hospital, but Uncle five is only in town for three days, none of which correspond to anything, and my brother's hairdresser's uncle's aunt's boyfriend needs this friday, but the dog has worms. Cue head exploding.
All of this. ALL of this, the craziness, the stress, the poorhouse, just for a few hours (if you're lucky) of smiles (again if you're lucky) from the people you love. You have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Is it? Well, is it??? One could argue that it is not, the commercialism has taken over the holiday that is supposed to be about family and togetherness and salvation and love and stuff. It would be very very (VERY) easy to fall into that when you've just witnessed the little kid equivalent of a lion on a wildebeest in your living room with the poor shreds of snowman paper littering the floor and piles of dolls twist tied into their boxes just beckoning for you to come and say colorful and unchristmasy things to them while wondering why a barbie needs this much security.
But... just take a step back. No, a bigger one. Now a deep breath. I said breathe, your lips are turning blue. In, out, in, out (do the hokey pokey and turn yourself about), and look at the people around you. Those crazy kids on the floor in the middle of the worst paper massacre you've ever seen, ignore the paper. Look at the kids. They're smiling aren't they? Yeah, I know. And feel that swelling in your heart? You did that. For just one day, you brought magic to their lives, you made them think you are the coolest person ever, and let's face it, you are. You pulled off another Christmas.
So, breathe, drink some eggnog and dedicate this house to the Griswold Family Christmas. Remember, it's all about the experience, Russ.
Yup.
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