I had a slight panic attack today. I read that Christmas is only exactly 5 months away. When I was little, it seemed like FOREVER between my birthday and Christmas. Now I look at my calendar and it is quickly filling up with "stuff" that makes the weeks seem really short and sure to fly by. School supplies and Halloween decor are invading local shops. Christmas stuff is soon to follow. Yikes!!
Every year is the same. I promise myself that this year will be different. I won't wait until the last minute to get everything done. One year after an exceptionally stressful Christmas, I actually wrote myself a letter with suggestions of how not to repeat the situation. It actually helped.
I want my kids to enjoy the holidays because I think it can be a very exciting time to enjoy one another. I just hate getting swooped up in the Christmas machine. It is all of the contrived gift giving that bugs me. I am anti "stuff for stuff's sake". Don't get me wrong, I love finding that perfect something for someone. It just doesn't always happen in weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have cut my Christmas shopping list way down from what it used to be and really feel sorry for my friends who feel they have to spend money they don't have on folks they don't really care for because "it's Christmas". What a waste.
One of the things I do enjoy about the holiday is our annual Christmas Party. I would much rather spend money on putting out a killer spread and be able to reconnect with friends. I feel like I'm giving my friends the gift of my time and I think that is a precious commodity these days, plus it won't become a storage issue or part of next week's goodwill donation.
I guess the point of my rambling post today is that I miss the days when time seemed to creep along. There doesn't seem to be that anticipation anymore because you blink and there it is. I will do my best to subscribe to the motto: Keep it simple, sweetie. That usually is the best advice.
Now I'm off to clean up my basement and work in the yard. I got a handmade trellis from my good friends Bob and Jessica and I bought the most gorgeous clematis to climb it. Christmas Scmistmas, viva la summer while I still can :0)
PS
I love google image and this little picture just seemed perfect (how cute is the hedgehog??) Anyway, I found it here http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/ and she has Etsy shop in case you feel like taking a look. She has some of the sweetest prints. Some seem a little "Wednesday Addams" but there are still cute.
4 comments:
I love Christmas too. I shop all year long and have a special box in the closet for gifts. My goal each year to to sit and watch the Thanksgiving day parades and wrap presents. I've actually achieved the goal a few years and those were the most relaxing Christmases I've had :)
Felicia
http://fluffyflowers.typepad.com/
Here in Australia our school year goes from late January to December and Christmas is just after the schools break up for the summer holidays. It means we have all the end of year school breakups at the same time as we are rushing to get ready for Christmas. Christmas is mid-summer, not midwinter, so if you want to take the kids to look at Christmas late you have to wait until quite late at night. I always want to be more organised for Christmas but it never really happens.
Sorry, in the previous comment I meant 'lights' not 'late'.
Hi. Thanks for the comment about Zac. He is so precious.
I LOVE Christmas. We don't have all the rush with Hallowen and Thanksgiving leading up to it, but as Kate said, school goes right up until Christmas (I think we break up on the 22nd) this year.
I also try to have all my presents bought, or made, during the year. It takes a whole lot of stress out of the rush at the end. I hate the shops and vow not to go near them in the last couple of weeks in December.
A couple of years ago, because my husband' family was expanding rapidly, we agreed to pull a name out of a hat and buy one wothwhile gift for that person. It has cut out a lot of extra spending on 'little' gifts.
I know a few people who a rarely see during the year, but they always turn up bearing gifts for the kids at Christmas time. Its embarressing!!
I love the picture you used too.
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