Not Immune To Christmas After All

Finally I am starting to get in the Christmas spirit. I mean, since the displays and music and sales pitch began back in October, I wondered if they had ruined it for me totally. The commercials with the claymation figures from those old Christmas specials like “The Year Without A Santa Claus” really disturbed me. I’d love to be left alone with the brainiac who sold them out. I mean the HeatMeister and Rudolph are off limits, people. If I see Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” trying to sell Ovaltine, I’ll go postal. (But with pretty Christmas stamps!)

But when I noticed an urge to bake cookies and I realized that I did still have some holiday nostalgia in me. It just took awhile to kick in. After the summer heatwave and then the endless warm weather and fall colors, I wasn’t ready. But when I put Christmas wallpaper on my laptop I knew it was back with a jingle.

Part of it is putting up my tree… and all the ornaments I have. Each one has a story behind it. One is a little wooden doll in a rocking chair that I have had since first grade. A girl who shared my last name, and drew mine that Christmas, gave it to me. We later became best friends in elementary school. Every time I see it I wonder where she is now. I don’t know I managed to keep it all these years. Between the estrangement with my family, being homeless, and being burglarized a few times, I managed to lose almost everything from my youth that meant anything to me. Of course, over time I have learned that possessions are not as important as surviving, or experiences, or friendships, or memories. And it makes the few things I do have seem even more important.

This year, like last, I decorated the tree by myself. Last year, my husband was working in Ohio, and this year he was out Christmas shopping. That didn’t bother me. But it was the second year Dylan was too sick or tired from damned Crohn’s disease to help me. When he was little, it was the highlight of my Christmas… that and seeing his face after Santa came. Now it is bittersweet when he comes through after I’m done, and gives my effort two thumbs up. Every single year we’ve been together my husband declares our current tree the best one we’ve ever had. And in the sense that we’ve made it another year, it is. Every tree is a milestone. By my count, this is our 22^nd tree.

Where I really go all out is when I am wrapping presents. I think it appeals to the arts-and-crafts side of me, not to mention my stint years ago as a seasonal department store gift-wrapper. I remember leaving that job at 9:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve, my feet throbbing in my foolish choice of high heels, my car way down at the end of a 28 degree parking lot. But everyone’s packages looked damned good. That feeling of frozen, sore-footed accomplishment stuck with me. Only now I can do it in more comfortable foot-ware, if any, and the gifts I wrap are for people I love.

To me, that decorated tree just isn’t complete without shiny presents, draped in ribbon and bows stacked underneath. And when I stand back and watch the lights reflect off all the gifts, I get a sense of accomplishment. I am grateful for the ability to give. And I am prepared for the holiday, the celebration, the exchanging of presents, even the tolerance of certain family members. Proof that Christmas does have a little magic in it.

Now for those cookies….

Internet Shopping Saves My Christmas Spirit

I love Christmas, like most people. But unlike a lot of women, I really dread the actual shopping for gifts. When my son was young, Santa was the bomb. For all of us. We loved it. I didn’t mind the shopping then, but over time I stopped having fun. 

I still really enjoy the act of giving. And last year I learned a valuable holiday lesson, thanks to the hundreds of catalogs I get in the mail. I did a lot of my Christmas shopping on the web, and this year, I’m doing it ALL from home. A cup of coffee and a couple of hours on my computer took care of half my Christmas list last week.

Since I made most of my purchases early in the month, through Amazon.com, though they are from different companies, the standard shipping cost was only around $15 for over 10 items. So worth it!

I used to love shopping when I was younger because we went to the mall. You had a variety of stores to shop, indoors where it was warm, with nice spots to eat, and usually a fountain or two. There are still malls, some huge and lit up like casinos, but always a little crowded for me. I don’t remember the same kind of greed from years past. Now people express their holiday spirit by trampling other shoppers for a cheap DVD player, literally fighting over toys, and breaking in line to see Santa or get into a store. On top of that, the store employees are underpaid, overworked, and their idea of customer service is bagging your stuff and not throwing it at you.

I just don’t get any joy in driving around (not to mention the parking issue), or walking outside on a strip mall sidewalk, to six or eight different stores. I find it equally fulfilling going to one big box store and buying whatever they have because it is convenient. I get tired of the Christmas music they’ve been playing since Halloween, and the displays tempting me to BUY BUY BUY stuff I don’t want.

I usually know what I want, and when I shop on the internet, it is a lot easier to find. It is also less of a hassle if I decide to browse. And often, it is less expensive.

It is also better than standing in a checkout line full of other shoppers if I don’t have to. Most of them are usually as disillusioned as me, and would rather be anywhere else. And then some are actually excited and chatty, in their ridiculous Christmas sweaters and/or earrings, which somehow makes it even worse.

Christmas has become so commercialized, the stores start cramming it down our throats earlier every year and in the process, killed a lot of the magic. What once felt like a season of celebration is become a season of stress and unnecessary pressure to spend. I don’t like Christmas shopping anymore, except on the internet. The web is my new mall. And shopping in your pajamas doesn’t suck.

‘Tis The Season For Debt Without Reason

Surely I am not the only one sick of the way Christmas has become so commercial, even as the stores distance themselves from the religion behind it and refuse to say the word “Christmas.” Meaning I have to shop for “Xmas gifts” or “holiday gifts.” I am not a religious person, but c’mon. I know what they’re up to… they don’t want to offend anyone. It isn’t about anything but SALES.

The key to a successful Christmas… I mean, a successful holiday is buying stuff. Not celebrating the birth of that Jesus guy, or spending time with your family. It’s not about baking cookies or even decorating the house, unless you sell cookie dough or tinsel. It is also tradition to send pretty cards to people you don’t see the rest of the year, and even people you don’t particularly like. Especially if you do one of those obnoxious, self-absorbed family “newsletters” that only you care about. If you buy enough cards, sometimes Hallmark will give you a little bear or snowman that bellows some annoying tune. FUN!

The holidays, or Christmas if you must, are about buying lots and lots of stuff. And don’t forget Hanukkah, and Kwanza… Every religion needs more candles at the very least! You know your decorations are outdated, you don’t have enough clear lights for the deck, and your neighbors are going to have a bigger tree than you. Your family needs more stuff. You need more stuff. You won’t impress anyone with cheap gifts wrapped in cheap paper with store-bought tags on them!

Even though there is nothing on worth watching, hubby needs a Plasma TV he’ll still be paying on next winter. Worse yet, the woman of the house is either expecting another diamond necklace she really doesn’t want, or a car. Neither of which will get hubby laid more than usual.

Now don’t you feel warm and fuzzy inside?

And let’s not forget the kids. It’s my fault that the most my son knew about Christmas was a short explanation of our nativity scene, and two attempts to read him a book. I put more emphasis on Santa than anything else, and like my peers, I paid for it. Pokemon cards, at least a million crayons, matchbox cars, video games and $13,000 worth of Legos. Now that he’s older, it’s a guitar here, a computer there… I would let him down if I didn’t reward him annually for being so, well, spoiled. The best thing I could do for him would be to let him spend a few hours serving food to the homeless, so he could appreciate how much we have.

Maybe we should all find alternatives to being so superficial; being mindless consumers and spending money we don’t have. I challenge everyone to check into it. Right after you get back from Circuit City and Target.