Christmas Chaos

I read this great article from the blog site Fans of Being a Mom covering the different ways moms handle the holidays. The poll they included ranged from Passionate Participant down to Party Pooper. I landed just below the top at Reluctant Reveler, which surprised me as I thought I'd rank lower.

My family and friends understand that Christmas is not my favorite holiday. It's been a gradual decline in my happiness and joy of the holiday. This mainly due to society's ever greedy take on it. It probably ranks right at the bottom only above...maybe...Groundhog Day.

I don't like being a humbug and I don't remember feeling this way forever. I try not to show my disinterest in front of the kids and I think I'm successful as they are VERY excited about Santa's coming visit.

A couple years ago Hubby and I sat down together and really talked about the effects of the Christmas season and what the holiday was truly supposed to represent for us and our family. After this discussion we really scaled back and got off the advertisers imposed idea of a "good" Christmas.

Because it's not those things that make the Christmas spirit lift. In all my memories as a child, I don't remember any exact gift I was given or how expensive it was. No, nowhere in those memories was the material things.

What I remember is the energy and excitement I felt walking home from school and seeing another house in the neighborhood lit up and decorations on the lawn. I remember the uncontrollable urge to wiggle and dance when "It's Starting to Look a Lot Like Christmas" was playing in the stores.

I always remembered the laugh and playfulness of my mom and stepdad as they we decorated the tree. There was the giddiness and chaos of arriving family and the awesome sleeping party all the cousins had during the stay.

I loved to watch my Aunt Diane and mom joke and cook in the kitchen while recalling the many great memories they shared as sisters. And I always fondling remember my Grandma falling asleep at the table as she watched her daughters reminscence.

True Christmas is about family, friends, joy, gratitude, and appreciation. The happiness of being with the ones you love and hanging around the ones you like. So that's what we'll continue to focus on this year and hopefully squash my inner humbug completely.

I hope you all enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and pass those traditions down to the next generation. Many holiday cheers to you and yours from the Norris Family.