Ok. I know it's a little blasphemous but...Christmas is not my favorite time of year

(Do you see the resemblance between me and this guy?  Read on and you will...)

It's toooooo busy.  Way tooo busy.  And soooooooooooooooooo commecialized.  And so expensive.  I feel obligated to buy presents for alot of people who I barely know and some I don't especially like.  I know, I know.  Call me a scrooge.  I'm really not.  There are aspects of the Christmas holiday that I DO like. 
I like the Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel
 (despite the bad acting and sappy story lines.)
I like that people - strangers- smile more, seemingly anyway.
I like that my kids get to spend time with my Father
(we don't get to see him as much as I would like but he NEVER misses Christmas with us)
I like that my kids are home from school for a nice long break.  
I like angel trees and anonymour donors and salvation army cans.
I like Christmas music.
 (THIS christmas I am especially enjoying Micheal Buble's new CD.)
Tacky Christmas sweaters make me laugh.
My Aunt's Prime Rib she serves ONLY on Christmas Day. 
(It is to DIE for.  Really.  I mean it.  If I am ever on death row and the prison ward asks me what I want my last meal to be it is going to be her Prime Rib, my mom's twice baked potatoes, and a rather large slice of my grandmother's chocolate cake.)
but I digress...
Let me tell you what I  don't like:
all the work of decorating
-and then after a week or two of it being out-
all the Christmas clutter
vacuuming up pine needles EVERYDAY
trying to figure out what to get for the person who has EVERYTHING
and for the person I BARELY know
or those who are like my brother and sister and are soooo hard to buy for because they are so dang PICKY
ALL the spending
ALL the shopping
the crowds at the mall
all the evening commitments -I think we had FIVE in the last week!
(although, I did enjoy that Cookie exchange this past Tuesday, that was kind of fun...)
I don't like the fact that I can never survive December without feeling like I am burning the candle at both ends.  I'm worn out. Partly because of my last "dislike"..
all the BAD food associated with the holidays.  When I eat bad, I feel icky for days.

Okay at the risk of being a TOTAL buzz- kill I'm gonna stop there.

I'll take a simple Easter or Valentine's Day or Thanksgiving ANYDAY over all the hubbub of Christmas.  Honestly, since I'm up on my soap box I'll just go ahead and say it.  I think it has become something the Savior would not necessarily want it to be.  The world feels like it is super distracted from the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas. 
Sunday our family is going to go to a local nursing care facility to sing Christmas Carols with some other awesome people that we know.  I can't wait.  So many of those people are sadly forgotten this time of year.  The Savior was a perfect example of seeking out the 1 lost little sheep even when it came at the expense of the 99 that were truckin' along just fine.  He went to the lepers and the outcast.  People that everyone else avoided.  It's my last ditch ever to not let the world take over our Christmas.  I really hope it is the one thing that my kids will remember about Christmas 2011.  That Spirit of serving others.  And trying our best to spread a little Christmas Cheer, even those of us...hmmm  hmmm, that don't have very much.

Comments

Amanda said…
Took the words right out of my mouth....the exact things on your list and more! I will take any holiday over Christmas...isn't that sad:( Steve is always asking why I am such a scrooge...ha! But I am! I go over and over with my kids the true reason for Christmas and explain to P how it has all been blown out of proportion....and he gets it...I just don't make up a lot of Santa hype at all, I hate that lie...and my kids don't get tons of gifts. I of course like you could go on and on....Good for you for doing the nursing home! I am going to work some sort of service in this year...and make it hopefully bigger as my kids get older. P and I have watched the Christmas devotional in parts each night...like one speaker a night for him so he can really focus on each one and get what they are saying....and that has really brought the Christmas spirit to me:) But your Christmas dinner sound Divine! off to get ready to go run P's class party....
Janie said…
do less. and you'll love it more.
christmas is my favorite. I don't buy for close friends because they know I love them. I don't buy for people I don't like because I don't care what they think of me.

and I LOVE Christmas. all the small holidays - I'm like who cares its not christams lol...

like the rudolf cake pops. ADORABLE - but there is an hour of your life you can have back ;)
TexasMom said…
Exactly. Couldn't have said it better.

The caroling at the nursing home - genius. Your kids will remember that, and so will the residents at the nursing home - well at least the ones that can still remember things ;)
emblair said…
Valentine's Day is my favorite, hands down.

Try throwing a birthday in two weeks before Christmas. And an anniversay two weeks later. CRAZY.
Wendy said…
Three years ago I gave up on a lot of the things that were ruining my Christmas--like neighbor gifts and all the other gifts that I felt inclined to get EVERYONE. As a neighborhood we did a service project and put together a big donation for a battered women's shelter. It was amazingly simple and satisfying.

Stop doing all the things that are ruining it for you and you will love it again.

Popular posts from this blog

Builders vs. Wreckers

swim meet