posted by Evi on Dec 22
When I was a kid I just loved Christmas. All those toys; the tree decked out in lights, tinsel and gaily colored decorations; visiting our grandparents’ homes; cookies – it was all great. Okay, our toys weren’t those fancy gas and battery powered all-terrain vehicles all the kids want (and get) these days – I remember getting a green station wagon car you sat in and pedaled. Yes pedaled, as in using your own leg and foot power. No computers or cell phones. More like books (which I still love receiving) and board games and little toys you moved around by hand. Unfortunately as I grew older, Christmas sort of lost its magic when I started receiving clothes and underwear – of all things.
Nowadays, the holidays are just days to get through so my life and house can get back to normal. My grandparents are long gone and our families are up North, except for my Mom who lives nearby. To her Christmas is also just another day. She no longer puts up decorations except for maybe a small ceramic tree she made in a ceramics class years ago.
Somehow Christmas just got lost in the commercialization of it all. Do you really need to see Christmas trees and decorations before Halloween? Do you really need to be reminded that there are 60 shopping days left before Christmas? Is this really what Christmas is supposed to be about? Has everybody forgotten the true meaning and the reason we celebrate Christmas? It sure seems that way. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all religious on you.)
I must say, though, that my husband is still the last Christmas holdout in our family. Every year he decorates the house, both inside and out. He also makes me help decorate the tree to Christmas music. Normally, he cooks the dinner and we have my Mom and friends over. (This year we’re having dinner, at Al and Dee’s home, along with my Mom.) So, I guess all is not lost. But I would give anything to go back just once to a Christmas when I was a kid, my family was together and my grandparents were alive – and, oh yeah, don’t forget my toys.
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