green christmas

“Two more weeks!” my kids yell as they ran in our room and jumped in the bed to wake us up this morning. “Oh, and happy birthday, dad.” they added as an afterthought. Poor Mark, every year his birthday gets lost in the craziness known as Christmastime. People are always asking, “Are you ready?” as if anticipating a hurricane to blow through Oklahoma. Do I have a choice? It makes me feel as if I should do more, buy more, cook more, and have more to wrap. Is there a list to check off?
#1 Go caroling with the kids…Nope, I would scare people
#2 Buy more presents than you can afford… Yes, I DO have a list for that one
#3 Bake and decorate cookies…hmm. I think I’ll let my mom get that one
#4 Drive around and look at lights… and waste gas?
#5 Give to the needy… well, I took 2 angels off the tree- maybe I should add them to #2. #6 Wrap…tried that and Dylan unwrapped, so that one will have to wait.
Did I miss something? I can see how people feel stressed and overwhelmed at this time each year. I’ve always loved Christmas, but as we are trying to simplify our lives, it seems especially difficult this time of year. So, I am making a conscious effort to make this year about making memories: spending time together doing the things that need to be done, and enjoying it. I’ve decided that if it’s not fun, and we can live without it, it doesn’t get done. For example, I am going to take the kids shopping with me to buy the toys for the kids from the angel tree. So that’s it. It took me way to long to figure out that the holidays don’t have to be so complicated. Then again, I have always been a late bloomer.
G