Happy After Christmas

I feel like I have gotten off a speeding train. Maybe the Polar Express? Starting after Thanksgiving, it seems like the pressure is on, no matter how you try to control it. You can not avoid all the Christmas hype. Holiday music surrounds you, no matter how much you like it or don’t, it’s there. Drive down the street any evening and bright colored lights and dancing inflatables are everywhere. Television is chock full of endless smarmy movies — someone watches them because they keep making them. I do admit we have some favorites. "It's a Wonderful Life" always wins.

It all starts too early for me. It seems like the big box stores begin in August. When I see the first artificial Christmas trees lined up like soldiers at Walmart, I want to scream, “No, not yet.” To no avail. It is relentless. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become holidays unto themselves.

The guilt ads start on television. If you really love your wife or girlfriend, you'd better be thinking of jewelry or maybe a new Jeep. Happy children tearing open mountains of presents imply more is more, not less. The Coca-Cola Santa is always memorable. Where were the Clydesdales this year?

We play a game at our house. At this stage of life, we really don’t need anything; in fact, we are trying to get rid of things. So, each year, early in the days before Christmas, the Big Guy always pipes up and suggests no presents this year. I smile, well knowing there will be presents.

We worry about overeating and drinking. As much as we try at our house to control the food. Two things happen — the incoming food, a gift from well-meaning friends and relatives, home-baked cookies — and then there is the outgoing. Each holiday season, I like to do a little baking; in fact, these days, it's rare when the cookie sheets come out. Anyone who bakes knows that not all the goodies leave the kitchen. Passersby may snatch a cookie or two, and the cook surely has to sample!

What is it about holidays? Major appliances seem to make trouble. Christmas morning I was not greeted by eight tiny reindeer. I was greeted by a dishwasher that had not drained. Lucky for us, technology does come through. YouTube quickly showed me how to take apart the draining system, identify the clog, hook it up again and voila, the dishwasher drains. Thank goodness for Dr. Google and YouTube always on call!

For all my bah humbug moments, there are many purely magical moments. Seeing a child in Santa’s presence is priceless. Christmas cookies. Dress-up events. Christmas lights. A church service with carols, even if it is only once a year. Traditional meals our families enjoy — for us, it is French onion soup on Christmas Eve and lamb chops on Christmas Day. Remembrance exchanges among friends remind us how precious friendship is, and how thankful we are for those who make a difference in our lives.

So another year around the sun — another holiday in the books.