DD - love your love/hate lists. mine are very similar. so I won't repeat. but here are some other thoughts I have about the holidays....
we need to do this year round! but, if you haven't then xmas is a great time to remember to give to those in need - starting with family (how many people give and support charities or certain groups they have no real connection to, but never offer $$ or support to their own family members?). more and more, I choose to think about those I know personally first - these are the ones I choose to help financially or otherwise when I can.p maybe that niece needs some extra support this year after becoming a single mom? perhaps I can help out a nephew in college who is working hard to support himself? what about that relative with all the kids with health problems who is always having financial problems - no I don't always agree with their life choices - but so what?... I have come to truly understand, especially in these difficult economic times, that charity really does need to begin in your home and extend to your family and close friends who are in need of some sort of support. because it WILL be me or someone dear in need one of these days. let family come first.
ha ha - christmas - mostly I love it.
remember when you were a certain age when xmas seemed a let down because you didn't have the child-like spirit and experience anymore? the child's joy and spirit seems to have left you but not really.. and remember when you grew into a young adult and your xmas is still fun but not too much to handle. and remember when you got older with a family and xmas became a lot of work and sometimes seemed too much to handle (especially for you moms)- and you sometimes had regrets about not slowing it way down and spending more time with children and family. at least those were sort of the phases I've experienced, and others I've talked with about xmas through the years. I think I've come full circle and even though its still a lot of work (and more and more effing commercial), I can definitely feel the child's joy again - perhaps because I can see the joy of xmas through my own child and through other children in the family. Perhaps because I have discovered what it means to give - really give of yourself so that it matters or makes a difference to someone. Or maybe its because I like to decorate and cook and make xmas crafts, etc... The child's joy. It has returned. Its all about finding the peace and joy of the child within, celebrating it, and keeping it.
