Thoughts on Christmas

Christmas decorations at one of the neigbor's house.

I constantly get asked at work if "I'm ready for Christmas." I always say yes. It's true. Even in February, I'm ready for Christmas. My parents taught me to give all year around. Why wait until Christmas to give someone something, especially if it is something they can use NOW?

Now that we have a wee one we not only get asked if we're ready for Christmas but are we going to "Spoil the little one for Christmas." My answer is always, "No. I'm going to try to keep it from him for as long as I can." At least the Santa-bringing-presents version of Christmas. I really don't like that version.

I don't remember believing in Santa Claus when I was wee. (Do you remember, Mom and Dad, if I believed in Santa?) I don't know if it was because I was raised Buddhist (I don't think that's why because I was exposed to Christmas and Santa at school and my parents still celebrated Christmas - we had a tree, presents. Most of my friends believed in Santa [I think]). Perhaps it is because my parents were not the parents who would put cookies out for St. Nick - they never perpetuated the Christmas lie (sorry for my bah-humbug-bluntness) or maybe because in the first place I lived we had no chimney; or maybe because my Dad signed presents, "Stanta" not Santa; or maybe because my Dad worked for Sears and would bring home the Sears catalog and asked us to circle things we wanted and I was no dummy, I could put two and two together...my dad was no elf. (Menehune, maybe, elf, no.) I remember understanding that Santa wasn't real but I still loved the stories of Santa - I loved him as a character in a fictional story. I loved singing Christmas songs and playing them on the piano. I even remember in middle school, a classmate of mine was telling me how she found all of these wrapped and unwrapped presents in her parents closet and how she was DEVASTATED to learn that Santa wasn't real. I remember thinking, "You still believe in Santa?" but not saying it out loud. I was silently judging her (if only Santa knew (and if only he was real), I would have gotten coal in my stocking...ha!) I think it is that story that started to shape the way I feel about the Santa-bringing-presents version of Christmas.

I was talking to Mike about how we should introduce Christmas to Stanley. We're gonna be very nonchalant about it all, especially in these early years. We won't hide truth from him but we're not going to build up Santa or Christmas trees. If we see a Christmas tree we'll tell him what it is. He met Santa last Friday at daycare and when I cam to pick him up Miss Tonya said, "Stanley saw Santa, ran right up to him and sat on his lap." I told her that he likes people with beards. Our Christmas tree is a big houseplant (a Norfolk Pine that I almost killed by leaving it out during a couple of frosts last winter so it's not very tree like anymore) that we decorate with our small collection of ornaments. When my brother and I were young adults my parents stopped getting a tree and instead decorated one of their many large houseplants.

We got him 2 presents this year. One is this little play mirror by Melissa & Doug, because he loves looking at himself in the mirror and he loves manipulating things. I also ordered a really sweet Names and Faces book by Pinhole Press. Here's the cover and a couple of the inside pages:

I think Mike may have framed a piece of art for the Bear's room too.

The other night as we were getting home (it was dark outside) he could see our neighbor's Christmas lights and he pointed at them enthusiastically. I told him that they were Christmas lights and that maybe we'll inspect them more closely this weekend. We did just that. We walked down the street to check out the lawn full of decor and lights.

That's Stan B's hand coming into the picture...his palm is up. He enjoyed looking at the lights and going for a walk in the backpack while it was dark out!

That is one of my favorite things about this time of year, Christmas lights. My other favorite things this time of year are Christmas Pageants, the Nutcracker, and my parent's wood-carved nativity scene.  My Mom took me to the local Methodist Church's pageant each Christmas and I LOVED it. I loved the characters and costumes and the songs were my favorite. Another Wintertime tradition was going to see the Nutcracker with my Mom; I still enjoy the music. Each time we would pull the Christmas ornaments out I was always so excited to come upon the wood-carved nativity scene. I can still picture the face of one of the 3 Kings and the simplicity of the carving. They were like dolls and I was that stereotypical doll-playing girl. Reminiscing on these favorites got me to thinking about Christmas and what it really means and how I think a majority of Americans forget it's original meaning (with the Christmas decor going up in stores right after Halloween. With stores open on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, etc.) December 25 is Jesus' Birthday (although Mike will argue that point with me and say that actually Jesus was probably born sometime in March (some say September). As non-Christian people I think Christmas is a holiday to celebrate the gift of giving, family, friends, helping others. As open-minded and loving non-Christians we will teach the Bear about Jesus and his post birth story because I think it's important. It's more important than buying him the next, best children's toy. There's a magic and warmth about Christmas (I think Santa is a huge part of that) but so are the lights and the songs and the stories. We will strive, as a family, to focus on the magic rather than the Santa-bringing-presents version of the holiday. We will try to preserve the magic of it all.

Those are the lights on the right...it's not a fire.