Bah Humbug?

It would be nice to be the type of person who gets excited about the holidays. I know retail has crushed all hope for me in that aspect. Christmas isn't about me or how I feel, so I trudge on through, wishing the weeks away until it's all over and the tree comes down. The past few years we waited til a few weeks before Christmas to even put the darn thing up. Well, it's about that time again and I find myself excited to be done with it and back to my normal routine. I still have shopping to do, how pathetic is that? There are exactly 4 days until the magical time where my daughter wakes us up way too early to rush through opening her presents and hopefully be grateful for everything she received and she better be after the stress I had to go through to get her the one thing she truly wanted.

Perhaps it's the fact that I hate spending money, but the glitz and glamour of Christmas just doesn't do it for me. I'm not about getting gifts, although I do love to give them. The music plays itself out by the time Thanksgiving rolls around and this year, one of our dogs destroyed the sparkly, red bulbs I put on the tree and had to rearrange at least 3 times before deciding to take them off entirely, do to her love of all things ball shaped. None of the presents I did buy are wrapped yet, although I did manage to find some cute wrapping paper again from the neighborhood Walgreens. And don't even get me started on work, especially this year.

The one thing I do love about this most wonderful time of the year is giving to the less fortunate or doing small acts of kindness. I try to do these things all year round, but I see a lot of places collecting for the Salvation Army or Toys for Tots and it puts a genuine smile on my face when I know that what I'm giving is helping someone who truly needs it. I think that's what Christmas should be about. I mean, we're all out there spending money on stuff people don't need, we might as well just hand it over to someone who'll actually put it to good use.

I don't mean to sound so bah humbug about the holidays or like I'm complaining for the sake of complaining. I'm sure it's just something that comes with age. Time literally flies by the older you get and it's easier to remember the year before because it felt like only yesterday we were sitting around the tree exchanging gifts to one another. I will say that I am grateful for my family and grateful that everyone is healthy and can spend Christmas together. I do love watching Jaida open her gifts, even if I've barely taken a sip of coffee to wake myself from my slumber. Oh, and one more thing I'm super grateful for, the neighborhood I live in for having good taste in choosing their outdoor festive decor. No longer do I boil over with rage at seeing those horrid, randomly blinking lights. I mean, blinking in an orderly fashion, yes. Random sections blinking on and off at any given time, not so much. But that's a whole other blog right there.

My final thoughts are that even though I'm not entirely crazy about every facet of this holiday season, I can at least appreciate the little things and be happy with all that I've been given. Jaida's only 10, so technically I can live through her excitement for at least another 8 years. That's the good thing about kids. You smile just to see them smile and I suppose that right there is the real reason for the season. As cheesy as that may sound.