I love Christmas so much, I really do. Honestly though, I think I like the lead-up, that anticipation of it more. It is the entire holiday season beforehand that is amazing to me. Everyone is a little happier, more generous, in the spirit to help and give. You can feel that vibe everywhere you go and it grows more intense with each opening of the advent calendar days.
Of course, for me this starts AFTER Black Friday - that day is horrible; an abomination. People are not in a good place this day. A day where people die over getting to the "perfect gift" makes me literally feel sick to my stomach. But starting right after that, it's pretty good (for the rest of us that were not affected by said Black Friday catastrophes. (Future rant?)
This is the time the fun starts. Cookies start to get baked and the house always smells so delicious. Treats start showing up at work which seem to disappear so fast you would think ninjas are sneaking in to steal them. People start smiling more - even random strangers you see out on the street. Even the evil news has a bit (not much) more happy stories of people giving, sacrificing, cooperating, and assisting civilization in general. Weather, sometimes, gets chillier and puts a little perk in everyone's step. When that first snow falls, I think we all have that split-second feeling that magic does exist even if we feel it for that one instant.
As the days pass and get closer to Christmas Day, the mysterious and alluring, elegant (well, MINE are!) gifts under the tree start to pile up and cause the excitement to intensify with each addition. The cookie jars are getting filled, the hot chocolate is flowing. The nights are divinely illuminated by the lights of the tree and, sometimes, the fireplace glow.
Christmas Eve brings a new intoxication as the cookies, egg nog, and band-aids are laid out for Santer Sauce and everyone is fired-up for the promise of the magic the morning will bring.
With the morning sun, the chaos begins. Get the camera, get the trash bags, hold off the kids, make sure everyone is ready, don't let anyone miss anything! The day is amazing and fun and I wouldn't give it up for anything, but great scott, it is HECTIC! Then the gifts are opened; this is done in different ways with each family.
Mine: One person, basically whomever happens to be the sitting closest to the tree when we decide to open, chooses presents one at a time picked from under the tree randomly. No sorting, no planning, just relaxing and quite informal; taking our time opening and enjoying. Usually, it is done at night with the tree on while having way too much of drinks and snacks. It is festive and fun and it lasts for HOURS. I love it that way and wouldn't change a thing.
Omega's: Someone passes out all of the gifts to everyone all at once so everyone is sitting in a pile of their own presents, then each person takes turns opening one gift at a time starting with the youngest and going to the oldest and repeating that until they each person is out of things to open. To me, it seems more structured, planned, and orderly. Which must be accurate since that is how Chris described it when I asked him to help me explain it! He added traditional, but, I think every family's way is "traditional" as that is probably the way they each have always done it.
Of course, each of us likes the way our respective families do it over the other way, but they both work and get the job done!
After gifts it is time to get ready for dinner with even more people! The cleanup. Egads! Christmas Day is so long! How do we get it all in! I think time runs differently on that day of the year.
I actually am a little thankful that my family lives in Austin. It keeps us from having to do everything on one day! Now, we can go up a bit before Christmas and do it then in Austin and come back to do things in Dallas on Christmas. That actually helps a little.
But December 26th - it is all over.
This YOT Day 38 - as much as I love it - I am thankful for the end of the holiday season.
All the buildup is wonderful. The day of is great but I am honestly happy when the hustle-bustle is over! This also has no bearing on whether this is done at my house or someone else's - it is just as busy either way.
Afterwards, everyone can relax. We can breathe and take some quiet time to play with our new stuff. We can think again and not have to entertain! We can reclaim our space that the tree is taking up, put the normal stuff back on the mantle, and basically, get back to normal.
I love going outside of normal but the holidays are a month long and take so much out of you! It may sound like a complaint, but I assure you, it is not. It is all wonderful. I think of it like many people think of vacation; they love being away but can't wait to get home or even a pain...you push on it because it feels good when you stop. The holidays are the same sort of thing for me.
Vacations, though, I could stay on vacation forever.
Don't worry...The Saturday after Black Friday 2013, I will be back up and ready for it all over again.
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