What the Holidaze mean to me…

I was born a spoiled rotten brat, so this time year has always meant one thing- presents. The more the merrier. I remember when the gift getting lasted two days and by the time it was all over every square foot of the house was covered in boxes and torn wrapping paper. Sadly, if you we’re ask me about anything I received during these years of gluttony I would be hard pressed to tell you. Although the gas powered go-kart in third grade and the bootleg copy of Star Wars in 1977 were unforgettable, in 47 years of Christmases only two gift highlights -yup! I was, and probably still am, a brat.

Something has changed in the past few years which has caused Christmas to end up being a completely different holiday. Not just with my expectations, but also with the stress of gift giving (I may be a brat, but I still gave gifts). When I grew old enough to realize that there was getting gifts, but you also had to give something it became a bit stressful. You see my family is all over the place, and we are very “close” by close I mean we talk to each other maybe once a year. Facebook has been wonderful in that I can actually know what is happening with my family without having to actually communicate with them. This means that when purchasing gifts, I have no idea what the other person wants, or needs. You settle for a gift card only to find out later that they never used it (a depressingly neat little trick). So something happened a few years ago with Sue’s family – the no gifts rule. This may sound like madness and so it is, but it has caused me to really like Christmas, and not for what was wrapped under the Christmas Tree.

What happened (as I remember it) was when the invitation came out in the Fall for the holiday- the logical statement was made that “if we want a sweater, if we need a sweater, we all have the ability to buy one, so why don’t we all just get together and enjoy that, instead?” And we did. No shipping, or over packing the MINI, no wrapping, just a family getting together once a year. Now we do celebrate, we eat, drink and are merry… But the gift is that as a family we are together. While I type this, everyone is doing their own thing, earlier some went to the grocery, I went to walk on the beach. No gifts, no expectations, no stress. As adults, we can do this, if we were with kids, yes, it would be different… But still think about it for the adults, how bad would it be if we all decided that time, that very precious and limited commodity these days, was all we were going to give. Yes, the economy would speed off some fiscal cliff, but I hear that’s happening already because some other adults are acting like spoiled children.

Yes, my family does still exchange gifts and I still get a little stressed trying to figure out what I should buy… This year I probably failed (again) but figured I’m tired of worrying about it. Hopefully, my older brother will like the electronic doohickeys I bought, my dad might appreciate the Lego set and understand that it was time with his grandson I was giving him, not just a bunch of pieces of plastic. My mom, who loves to decorate for the holidays, will hopefully appreciate the centerpiece. Sadly, time got away from me (see yesterday’s post) so some folks aren’t getting anything until I return home, but they are spending quality time with loved ones and my little gift isn’t going to make a difference- it’s not like I bought everyone a car with a big bow on it like everyone on TV does.

So here is my Christmas wish to you- may you have a safe and wonderful holiday and hopefully end up with a gift you didn’t expect some- happy time with people you care about. Merry Christmas!