I finally convinced Adam to check out the local mall with me the
other day. As a child of the mall era, I
am SO pro-mail and anti-strip mall but that’s another post. Anyhoo, my husband is not a big fan of crowds
so we went during the week and early in the day. It was surprisingly quiet there for being this
close to Christmas but it seemed like a healthy mall full of popular small stores
and nice anchors. (And for those
wondering YES there WAS a Chick-fil-A!) It was decorated in a festive manner and while
Santa must have been “out feeding his reindeer”; there was an area to meet up
with the jolly old elf. I am sure I
sound like a broken record, (it’s like a MP3 kiddies but you could hold it in
your hand and it got scratched very easily making it skip…skip means…ahhhh
nevermind) but watching people Christmas shop wearing shorts and flip flops is
just WRONG to me J Not wrong in the “we better pray for them”
wrong but just odd. Let’s just say, it
doesn’t seem like Christmas.
Now, THAT got me thinking. I
know the warm weather is throwing us off a little even those in Ohio. I mean the lack of snow and higher than
normal temperatures has an effect on how Christmas feels. Before you remind me that I previously stated
that feelings lie and you cannot trust your feelings, I have to defend the
Christmas feeling for a moment. You know
the feeling. It’s a warm, hugged, teary
eyed, loved feeling that when you are a child is filled with excitement and
anticipation. As we get older, while we
tend to lose that excitement about what we are getting, it transforms into an
excitement about watching our kids or other children’s faces knowing how that
wonder of “what could POSSIBLY be in that brightly decorated box” feels and
remembering how it felt to be young again.
There something so rewarding and warming about giving someone something
you know they really want.
When I was ten, my mom had my little brother. At about 11 years old the nieces and nephews
started coming so my transformation from “HURRAY FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEE!” to “HURRAY
FOR THEMMMMMMM!” was seamless. I have
opened and watched kids open presents almost every year my entire life. This will literally be the first year I am
not going to have that experience in a looooong time. While I did get a present for my brother’s
kids, he still has it so they will not receive it until after the holidays. I also used to have a long list of
expectations for myself of what Christmas was supposed to be including decorations,
baking, buying and wrapping tons of presents, etc. Most of those things are out for me this year
so, regardless of the weather, Christmas will not seem “like Christmas” for me
this year.
Also, almost every year, I have spent Christmas with loved
ones. Most recently, it has been Christmas
Eve with my family but others with my in laws.
On Christmas, it was stay at home with Adam and the animals. After losing 2 pets on Christmas, this also
changed the holiday for us. This season it
will just be Adam and our dogs and cats.
Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to have a loving husband and have
him here for Christmas as opposed to those who are separated from their spouses
for military assignment or other reasons.
I am thankful that I have 3 wonderful, seemingly healthy dogs and 2
young, crazy snuggly-when they are not trying to kill you cats but that being
said, it still will not be the same type of Christmas I am used to having.
So my question to you is, what does it take to happen for Christmas
to “feel like Christmas” for you? Is it
where you are? Is it who you are with?
Is it part of the menu? Is it the Lights
at the Zoo? Is it the yearly football
game between you and your friends?
As stated above, for me, that “Christmas feeling” is always
evolving. The first Christmas after my
dad died was the first big thing I remember happening that changed how
Christmas felt. That year my mom bought
us all stockings with our names on them. It became a tradition that we would hang our
stocking by age on the stair railing.
This continued well into our adult years with spouses and grandkids
stockings added until there wasn’t an inch to hold onto as you descended, which
add one clumsy family and one open stair case with no usable railing and ….well
you get the idea. Then came a year when
mom couldn’t find the stockings to hang.
WHAT? NO STOCKINGS?! HOW CAN IT BE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THE STOCKINGS?!
Maybe those things that make Christmas “Christmas” just depend on
the traditions our families uphold. I
know this year I am really missing decorating cookies with kids. That is something we have been doing for some
time and I really enjoy. Another thing
that can really get me in the Christmas mood is singing or listening to
Christmas hymns. For many years, I either
took a part in or observed other Christmas pageants or concerts. It’s not so much hearing them on the radio as
watching them sang live and singing along.
While I will not be performing anywhere this year, I was able to hear
some Christmas music at church. Even the
kids sang a song, albeit Jingle Bells, which I found an odd choice for church
but again, picking my battles.
So if you know my belief it’s no surprise that I consider the
meaning of Christmas about the birth of Christ.
That being said, tradition also holds a large part of that “Christmas
feeling.” So again, I ask, what would it
take for me to take away from you, for you to say, “it doesn’t feel like
Christmas this year”?
P.S. The stockings were
located years later and distributed to the appropriate family members just in
case you were worried.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIjQfGFDyno
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