I have to say, even with the commercialism of the holiday season, it is still my favorite time of year. I love giving gifts, even if it is a bit contradictory of what I think about buying things you don't need, overpurchasing & overspending. But I think that is the challange. I spend time trying to find the perfect, useful gift for each member of our family and then trying to find it massively on sale. I never buy anything for the holidays that isn't on sale, so I always get a thrill about how much I am saving myself, when buying for others.
And I love decorating! The day after Thanksgiving is one of favorite days, because it is the day that I pull out all of my Christmas things and think about all the years gone by. When I got each ornament and where we bought it. It is one of our favorite traditions. I don't go out and buy Christmas decorations. Most of what I have, was given to me as Christmas presents or hand-me-downs. But each year, we go out and we buy one ornament that represents something significant that happened that year. The year we adopted our dog, we bought a dog ornament. The year we bought our house, a house ornament. And of course, a baby's first Christmas ornament for both of the kids. We are always sure to put the year on the back of each ornament, so as we pull them out we can look back at all the years gone by, since Hubby and I started dating! It is so much fun. We haven't purchased our ornament this year, but we have so many memories to chose from. Our son started first grade, we adopted our cat, we lost our third child when I was 18 weeks pregnant, and much more. So, I will have to spend some time narrowing it down and deciding what memory to signify this year.
Another one of my favorite traditions is my tree skirt. I made it when the kids were little. I cut out a red felt tree skirt, then each year, I have traced the boys handprints onto green felt, stitched their name and year on them, then stitched them to the skirt. It is one of my favorite things to bring out each year, and it is starting to fill out with handprints. I know it is something that I will treasure, when my kids are grown and living on their own.
Another favorite tradition, is our Christmas morning breakfast with our neighbors and best friends. When we moved into our house, almost 5 years ago, we didn't know any of our neighbors. They were close to us in age, and we had alot in common. But within a few months, we became fast friends and now they are our dearest friends, and I consider them family. Both of our families run around at the holiday season. We see our family, but we don't get to see our friends much. So, during our first holiday in our house, we invited them over for a small Christmas breakfast. It was wonderful. They get to see the boys open all of their gifts from Santa, which has been wonderful for them, because they hadn't started their family yet. So for them, it was a chance to tap into the childhood of Christmas again. I am so happy to say, that this year, they are expecting their first child in May, so I am sure next Christmas we will have another pitter patter of little feet at our Christmas breakfast table. But it gives us a chance to spend time at Christmas with those who choose to love (friends) and not just those we have to love (family).
I love Christmas and I am so happy that it is here! I am always able to manage the Christmas season with low-stress, and I think i is because I do the things that I enjoy and I skip the things that stress me out!
So, I say, bring on the Holiday Season....I'M READY!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment