The C Word

Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean Christmas. 

I have a hard time with the commercialization of this holiday.  I get worked up over back to school stuff in July;  I'm irritated by Halloween stuff going up right after school starts; and I really, really can't stand Christmas hooey hitting the aisles before I have even completely thawed a turkey for Thanksgiving.  And what is it with bathing suits stocking the stores before I even get the courage to step on the scale in January? There is subliminal commercial insult there.  I know it.

I am also Grinched Out by the fact that people spend way too much money on this holiday, not to mention that some actually begin buying for the following year the day after Christmas.  Indeed, I am not a fan of this holiday.  I prefer Thanksgiving: eat, drink, be merry, but don't decorate the house, the lawn, or buy pesents.  I  know that I may be talking out of both sides of my mouth, given that I have been posting recipes for the holidays for a couple of weeks now.  I should have titled them as Thanksgiving Holiday Recipes, but I was remiss. 

Now, if I could get away with bagging the C word altogether, I would be full in; however, I have a husband who loves the C word and children who should probably have it as part of their childhood memories.  I would love to drop the decorations, the tree, and the suburbian pressure to decorate the house with lights, tacky blow up figures, and sleighs on the roof. I saw a sign the other day for a company that "does Christmas lights".  Seriously?  I almost called to see how much they charged just so I could feel superior.

My very first adult Christmas tree came into my house because my roommates at the time, Jonathan and Stephen, decided that I needed a little holiday cheer.  I bah humbugged them, but I lost the battle.  The house looked great, the outside was uplit like nobody's business, and the boys were smug.  The bastards moved out right after Christmas, though, leaving me to clean up all that Crap (another C for Christmas). 

Then I got married, and we had our first "couple tree".  The "couple tree" was really a "baby-makes-three tree", because the girl child appeared  in the womb approximately five days after we said, "I do."  That's another story for another blog (actually, I touched on that in one of my first forays into this blogging business).  So we did the Christmas thing. It was small; it was quaint;  I'm not a huge fan, remember?  Then the girl child appeard in the flesh, and Christmas took on a whole new meaning.  Toys and books from inlaws, beautiful layettes from others, and more stuff than a child could ever need began to appear under the tree. 

Now we have two little ones roaming around with sparkles in their eyes and lots of ideas for what Santa will bring.  They don't watch television that has commercials, but pre-school is enough of a commercial for anyone. Everything that H sees goes on the list for Santa.  The boy child is still unable to articulate anything of consequence but Santa and "Sunshine", our Elf on the Shelf bribe/blackmail to ensure decent behavior from Thanksgivng to Christmas.  On the 26th, we are kind of screwed; H likes tomake up for her goodness and kindness with a month long streak of bad.

Given the demand for gifts, gifts, gifts, and given my senitments about the C Day, I have new rules in place for the holiday this year. Three presents each under the tree.  NO MORE!  Christmas is about...get ready for it...Christ.  You know, His birth?  In a manger? No room for a bed and all that? The Three Kings each brought one present for Jesus, and the little kid with a drum sang a song.  If three presents and a ditty are enough for the world's Savior, I'm thinking that my children will do just fine with three presents under the tree on the 25th.  I can't speak for the grandomthers and their benevolence, but I would love a college donation instead of clothes and toys for my kids. 

And NOTHING goes up until all Thanksgiving leftovers are either inhaled or thrown away. Period. 

Because of these new edicts, I am in hopes that I can single handedly take the C(rap) out of Christmas and bring in something more important like the F words:  Family and Friends.