Do It the Way You Do It

I thought of writing about the true meaning of Christmas, but you already know that it is far better to give than it is to receive.

I thought of writing about how to make your kids understand that meaning, but I’m struggling to get my own kids to comprehend it.

I thought of writing about the traditions we have, but our traditions are changing. Plus, I’m as sure as the snow on the ground that you have your own traditions. For my south-of-the-equator friends, I’m as sure as the sand on the beach that your traditions are different than ours.

I thought of writing about how much I despise the commercialism of Christmas. Advertising starts at Halloween. We don’t need more and more and more and more…. But I’m sure you are tired of it all, too.

I thought of writing about Christmases past, but we all have our pasts. Good. Bad. Or otherwise. So really, I thought of writing about staying in the present (pun intended), but we’re all mindful of how present we need to be. With all that still needs to be done, it is difficult to do.

I though of writing about how tired we are with so much more do. Piled high atop of everything Christmas, there are still lunches to pack. There is laundry to wash, fold, and hopefully put away. We still need to eat breakfast and go to work. We still need to cook supper and clean up both meals and bathe the brats and read with them and get them into bed and start all over in the morning.

There are Christmas parties and Christmas concerts to attend.

I’m not writing about any of it because it’s all been written about before. It’s been written much more eloquently than I ever could, even with a thesaurus. Instead, I just want to gently remind you (and myself) to close your eyes, take a deep breath, then go do Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever it is you celebrate (or don’t celebrate) this time of the year. Whether you binge watch all the new Christmas movies or the classics, real tree or fake or no tree at all, with lots of family or just a little, at 5 in morning or 5 in the evening, with kids or a spouse or a partner or parents or all by yourself…

Do it the way you do it. It’ll be here and gone faster than we think. If we spend too much time dwelling on the way we want the world to be we will lose sight of those things I was going write about in the first place.

Anyway you do it, hop on over Twitter and Instagram and follow me. I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re having fun getting there!