It seems a lot of people aren’t feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I’m not really in the mood for it. It’s not a “Bah Humbug, let’s cancel Christmas” mood as much as “Christmas? Meh.” This is distressing me, as I loooove Christmas. It’s my favorite time of year. I’m afraid I’ll wake up in February thinking NOW I’m ready for Christmas, then realize it’s 10 months away. I keep going through the motions and trying to force myself to get as much out of it as I can, but so far it’s felt nothing but forced. I don’t know if it’s because rather than baking cookies and buying gifts and wrapping packages I’d rather be sleeping (SO TIRED) or because there aren’t really any gifts I’m looking forward to or because there’s no snow (it is NOT beginning to look a lot like Christmas).
I guess as a kid I didn’t realize how much work Christmas is (kids never do, do they?) It was easy (and enjoyable!) to get it done when we didn’t have kids, then got harder with 1 kid, and now with 2 there’s just no way to get it all done. I’ve think been up until at least 11, often 12, every night since Thanksgiving. That probably doesn’t sound too late, but when I have to get up with the baby during the night then be up sometime between 5 and 6 for work it’s just not enough.
Between work and buying gifts and having two kids (including a baby) we’re so crazy busy there’s no time for Christmas movies or other Christmas-y activities to build Christmas spirit. I’m sure I could have somehow forced time for Advent activities into our schedule, but it seems I have to choose a focus and this year it was baking. I’m bringing cookies to every potluck party, including them with gifts, giving them to all the teachers, etc. I’ve made so many cookies just the thought of them is off-putting. I stopped eating them sometime last week.
At this point I see Christmas as a finish line. I just have to last a few more days. Then maybe I can collapse in a heap and sleep for a week. Except no, I still have to take care of those kids. And clean the house for our annual New Year’s Eve party. And host a party where the whole point is to stay up past midnight. Whose idea was THAT?
This year has been a hard one for me, too. I'm usually all about Christmas. But somehow, the idea of setting up all the decorations (and ultimately taking them down again - shudder) was really unappealing to me this year. So we're a little more minimalist this year. But I made about half of the gifts so I'm quite proud of that. And that has been SO much fun. It's starting to creep up on me - the holiday spirit. And I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family.
ReplyDeleteHope you get a dose of holiday spirit yourself!
Staying up until midnight - HA! You're funny.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that Xmas is decidedly less fun when you're the one making all the magic happen. I'm hoping it gets easier when the kids are older.
THIS IS EXACTLY MY LIFE. I am staying up late every night but still getting up with the baby. It is so much work, and no one is even going to appreciate it, and I just want Christmas to be over.
ReplyDeleteJust reading this is making me tired! Congrats on all the cookies.
ReplyDeleteSleepiness everywhere! I think I finally have Christmas spirit after a few years of not, so I'm trying to be contagious about it with our families. It may be working!
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