'tis the season

i hate the "christmas season".

no, i'm not really a bah humbug type, not really..........i enjoy making and getting that right gift, i love my little baby 2 1/2' x-mas tree (that always goes up, only missed one year since i was 3!)...........i enjoy the big dinners with family, many of whom i don't see more than once a year maybe.............i enjoy decorating for a holiday....................and weirdest of all, i do enjoy the kids x-mas specials on tv (i love the animated grinch!) and christmas carols!!

but i hate the season. not the weather (even though we got snow already this past week) but the pushing, shoving, aisles cluttered, stupid bell ringing, forcedly cheerful, gimmegimmegimme, with stuff out before halloween in the stores!

this drives me nuts. i've watched the "season" creep forward as the years go by............i remember when the mall would put up the decorations the day before turkeys (thanksgiving), so that it would be festive for black friday...........the decorating started creeping, and creeping...........now, there was a x-mas shop in walmart in the middle of october (towards the beginning) and the inflatable decorations went out a week adn a half before said pumpkins were even thinking of rotting..................the internal store decorations went up sometime in the past week...............and they are already playing carols!

come on people. give it a break. get over the 'i want this, and i hafta have it!' syndrome.

what is this season all about?? well, let's start with when they start decorating......

halloween. for pagans, this is new years, a day of remembering those that are gone, the end of summer/beginning of winter.........for many kids, yeah, it's gimme candy, but it's also a chance to be someone they really are not. my little monster was a pirate. yeah, she's a pirate a lot, but she got the clothes for it this time (yes i'll post a pic, after i get the mud off them and can get them back on her!).........

thanksgiving. for americans, a chance to give thanks for everything we have.......a time to get together with family, enjoy the fruits of all our labors...........and remember the past, those who have gone before to get us where we are today.

christmas. now this depends a lot on whether you celebrate this as a religious holiday or a family one. if you are religious, it's a birthday technically............a day of miracles............a day to remember what's joyful (i was raised episcopalian)................if you are not, most still celebrate this as a day to give special things to those close to us, a day to be together with those you care about...............for pagans, solstice is pretty close (the longest day of the year), the day when the days start getting longer again, a rebirth of the sun, the first day of the end of winter.

now i wonder, where in all of this do large inflatable santas on motorcycles come into all this??
where does football play into the traditions?? where does it state that a list a mile long of things we can't live without and our family has to go broke buying is required?? where is it that if we don't like something we've been given, we look at whoever gave it to us and say we don't like it?? now i admit, i've done this a time or two..........usually when i'm allergic to whatever it is(smelly candles can kill me!) where does it require buying out a store for a single person?? (i worked toys r us for two x-mas seasons......i have watched parents come in and pile several carts to the point of overflowing, then make remarks at the register that they'll hafta come back for the cousins, this is all for one child!) this was really underscored by holidays with my ex, his family tradition was that you spend around $500 per person, he was rather upset with me that i wouldn't let him, we coulnd't afford it, and i found it tacky; he was rather embarrassed, but then again, there are many reasons he's my ex.............

i think my point in all this, is we need to remember why we have holidays, remember what is at the core of our upcoming days............
family.

i tend to remember this well, i'm juggling visits with three separate families for every holiday........his, my mom's side, my dad's side..............and for me, with grandparents visits thrown in..................we are 3 hours from any of our families.......so when we actually get north, especially with the little monster, visits are required.........it is a juggling act.............and it really underscores what i've been venting about above............
we have a choice around here. we can go broke buying gifts, or we can use the extra money to visit the family...............
i'd rather visit the family, and make/buy a few well-thought-out gifts that people will really enjoy adn remember, than lots of stuff that will all blend together within a day, and never get used.

happy holiday season...............i'll try and keep my rants a little shorter from here on out, my posts a little bit less preachy, i just had to get it off my chest before i burst and killed a bell ringer..........