I am not a fan of Christmas. AT ALL. I worked too many years in retail and heard WAY too much Christmas music.
Don't get me wrong. I like the family gatherings and seeing friends in town that I would not get to see if not for the holiday. I like that MOST people are in a better mood or at least more forgiving around the holidays. But this is what I dislike:
* The huge drain on my bank account because of the universal expectation of gift giving. I love giving my friends and family gifts. But I start thinking about what to get them in the spring, and I find perfect gifts. Then I can't stop myself from adding on and adding on when I see other perfect gifts as the year passes. If we just gave at birthdays, I wouldn't have this problem. Or, if random gift giving with no expectations at Christmas was the norm, I would be FINE. That one is totally my fault though.
* Christmas Creep. Stores get in their Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier. Hobby Lobby had Christmas product in their stores in JUNE. This is more than 6 months out. Most others have Christmas stuff up before Halloween is even over. And THAT is my favorite holiday and I don't appreciate the creeping of pine trees and ornaments into my spider webs and pumpkins.
* Christmas music on November 1st (or earlier). Last year I couldn't bring myself to listen to any Christmas music except "Straight No Chaser" singing A cappella about a day before Christmas Eve. This year is a little better with the discovery of the "Holiday Party" station on Slacker radio. But still, a girl can only take so much.
* STUFF. I buy all the stuff I want. I have nothing to put on a list for anyone, so I end up getting stuff I don't need or want. Then I feel bad because someone spent time finding me a gift and spent their money on the gift, but I don't care about it. The (old Catholic) guilt is a little overwhelming. I ask for gas cards and grocery cards because that is stuff I actually NEED, but it's never exciting enough for the giver. In turn, I want to buy people what they NEED also, but then I feel like a douche because Jake opened a package with underwear and Ty got more socks. They are just going to have to deal with it because it can't all be toys and candy.
* SIX CHRISTMASES! Children of divorced parents have it rough. Yes, they would like their parents to still be together. And it sucks. However, when those parents find other spouses, there are now SIX CHRISTMASES for those children to enjoy. Christmas with dad, dad's family, and step-mom's family. Christmas with mom, mom's family and step-dad's family. It makes it incredibly tough to buy them ANYTHING because I already know they are getting SO MUCH. And just because they are dealing with divorce, doesn't mean they deserve so much STUFF.
* Rearranging my house. My living room is pretty small. The only way I can get a tree in is to move around my furniture. This year I decided to forego the whole tree thing, mostly because I had some home improvement projects like painting a birch tree mural and putting in quarter round, and we're having a small gathering New Year's Eve, and the tree would have to be down before that. So I've turned Jake's "big" present into our tree.
* The Myth of Christmas. So... not to rock the boat or anything, but Christmas isn't a REAL holiday. It's on the calendar as the birth of Christ, but even Christian scholars don't believe that is the day Jesus was born. I've seen March, April, September and November being suggested as His real birthday because NO ONE can agree on anything except it's NOT December 25th. The reason the Roman Catholic church chose that day is because of Saturnalia and Winter Solstice. Saturnalia was an ancient pagan Roman festival celebrating the deity of Saturn. December 25th was also the first noticeable day after the Winter Solstice that seemed to have longer daylight. The church chose December 25th because it was much easier to take a date already celebrated (with debauchery) and turn it into a holy day, rather than come up with an entirely new date. Gift giving was actually part of Saturnalia, so you can thank those devious pagans for that tradition.
Now, I am off to continue cleaning my house, getting out my New Year's greeting cards (in lieu of Christmas cards this year) and working on my latest home improvement project, all while listening to the Holiday Party station on Slacker. See? I'm not all Grinchy. I'll leave that to my eldest child.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
