As I look out my window I can't help but wish it were December. Snow is so much more enjoyable when it is BEFORE Christmas (especially when the aforementioned snow is occurring post March Break). These thoughts got me thinking back to Christmas 2012. For me the lead up to Christmas can often be more enjoyable than the big day. This year was complicated in that some of my immediate family were not speaking or seeing each other. Also, it was the first year with an in-demand-super-popular-baby. This meant that there was disappointment on the side of my in-laws for not being with them Christmas day and that Christmas day was divided into two in order to see different family members who did not want to see each other.
The pont? It was all a little too much and not what I wanted. Not what was best or most enjoyable for me or for my family. I don't want this. I want to have a perfectly joyful December 25th (or other day on which I am celebrating!). But before I can have the prefect Christmas Day I have to know what that means to me.
The lesson in all of this is that perhaps I should spend some time THINKING. Perhaps we all get so caught up in the shoulds of the holidays that we forget the coulds. And I think Christmas COULD be wonderful if I chose to make it that way.
So, off I go to imagine the Christmas of my dreams....
Think of the snow outside as 9 months early for Christmas 2013.
ReplyDeleteSue, I too struggle with what Christmas could be, because I am too concerned about making it what I perceive others think it should be. Because of this my husband and I go from obligatory celebration to obligatory celebration from about the 22 to the 27 of December. In the end we are exhausted and not very jolly.
However, we have come up with a solution for 2013: a belated honeymoon to South America. You, your husband, and your "in-demand-super-popular-baby" are welcome to crash.
Yes, Christmas is a tough one for me too. I think the problem is EXPECTATIONS! I build up to that one day in Christmas starting Nov. 1st (let's be real, usually Oct. 1st) and by the time the week off from work comes around I'm already bummed out. It's kind of like the wedding syndrome. In the end it's someone else's day, not yours. So you can think of the Christmas week like a week of service and kindness to your loved ones. Think "I'm doing this for others". Don't expect that it will be YOUR perfect day, but maybe you can work on making it someone else's perfect day. And then one day in that week you could designate a day just for you and hubby and baby, where you sit on couches, read books and eat chocolate all day. I would definitely make that special day after Christmas day itself. You could even keep one last (very small, so there aren't great expectations) token gift between you and hubby. I don't have the answer, but it's definitely something I want to work on, because the same feeling often happen to me. I also know the days in the Christmas holiday where I stay home and do nothing are the best.
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