Christmas as a kid was a true experience to look forward to. I loved helping my mom with the decorations and cookie baking. It was fun and festive. You get two weeks off from school, and your responsibilities are minimal during that time off. For me there were three distinct christmas’s we would celebrate. It would kick off Christmas Eve with my mom’s side of the family. This was a big family too so it was a lot of noise, food, and presents. It was an event! After the party ended we would head home but this was perfect because the party would always wear me out enough to sleep peacefully. Then of course is Christmas morning. I was allowed to open my stocking but the presents had to wait until my parents woke up. This was not a problem though because we had the gifts from the night before to play with, plus candy from our stocking and so it was a nice morning for everybody. Mom would wake up and make a special breakfast and only after that could we begin opening presents. Mom and Dad were always careful to keep things even between my sister and I knowing how competitive we could be with one another. Like any good parent, there were toys, but also a book and some clothes. Once that was done we needed to get ready for the final leg of Christmas. This was at my grandparents’ house from my dad’s side. We would drive over there and have a nice late lunch with Dad’s family and then open presents there. When I was younger, my Grandma would also fill a stocking for us. She somehow always found the most interesting things too and was often ahead of the curve on kids trends and games. It was incredible. We would open gifts and all thank one another, but at the end, well, that was it. The fun was over and we had completed Christmas. It was always a bit melancholy at this point because I had so many new things to read, play with and do but the post-gift-giving/receiving blues would set in. The parties were over and wouldn’t begin again until next year. Still it was always a fun ride.
Adult Christmas is very different, though. Same places, but you no longer get to sit back and enjoy the ride. No, you have to participate in the creation of the ride. Gift shopping, budgeting, planning and meal prep all factor in now. Thank goodness for online shopping because I would be much more stressed if I had to do in person shopping this time of the year. Amazon is certainly an evil conglomerate, but it’s never been easier to shop for multiple people in history. Besides America these days is just five companies in a trench coat. It’s all problematic. So now it’s a lot of boxes, tracking, and then wrapping. Making sure the right gifts go to the right party and that nothing is forgotten. It’s still fun to see family and do a gift exchange but nothing will ever top or replace the magic of childhood when your only expectation was to show up and people loved doting on you because you were just a precocious child. You never think that will end but it’s over quicker than you think. It’s the gathering of family that means the most to me now anyways. It’s chaotic and overwhelming but joyful and fun. Merry Christmas everybody!