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What's not to love about Christmas when you're a kid? Because when you're kid, it's easy to encourage your little Id to shine like a diamond, that inner child who thinks only of passions, locked in a tug of war with the ego, which is supposedly a representation of our reason and common sense. But Christmas has as much to do with common sense the way summertime has to do with wintertime: two polar opposites! We are now into the mid-point of December and this means the most special day of this holiday season is a week and a half away. I speak of the 25th day when the little trampling of feet can be heard in the house, tearing down the stairs at some awful hour like 4:30 AM, still dressed in pajamas, to sneak a peek under the tree, just to see what Santa left for them.

I love this one part about Christmas, where kids get to live in a world of wonder over the speed with which Old Nick is able to deliver gifts to every good kid in the world, all in one night, and from a sleigh pulled no less by reindeer (caribou). If you've seen reindeer in the real, they're in fact a small hooved deer, but ideally suited for traipsing through the snow. And you should also know that male reindeer shed their antlers, while female reindeer do not, which could quite possibly mean that Santa's sleigh is also being hauled by female reindeer, and this might explain why Santa never gets lost, because his female reindeer have no issue with asking for directions. 😅

I don't have kids but I've been blessed with a nephew and nieces, and four great nephews and one great niece, but I'm close with just my nephew and great nephews on my sister's side of the family. Adults have busy lives and we're often snowed under with work, and responsibilities. This means that we don't get the time with extended family unless we live close to one another. Regardless, at this time of year fall back on old habits, to spend, spend, and spend some more, feeling like some drunken sailor fresh off the dock, to ensure that my nephew, great nephews and niece are not forgotten. Let me clarify. I don't spend a fortune. Instead, I look for key gifts, ones that'll be purposeful, that can be used going forward, and not just played with for a few hours, before becoming broken or ignored. The kids themselves may not necessarily be thrilled, but their parents will, such as in the case of buying backpacks for two great nephews. In some of the backpack compartments, I hid chocolate covered candies that their parents had expressly forbidden anyone to do so. Oh dear! Christmas isn't just about toys and more toys. It's also about having too many sweets, the same way parents and adults have one too many drinky-poos, nibbling on snack food, before sitting down to a huge meal.

My nephew this year had delivered a message vis-à-vis his mom - no more toys for their two boys. This is a reasonable request, given that they have more toys than they know what to do with, so I opted instead to buy them sketch books, made from good quality thick paper, along with crayons, pencils, fine-tip markers, all to encourage them to explore their creative side.

I love Christmas for the extra time off from work, which enables me to unwind, and pretty much embrace my inner-sloth. Aside from stretching each day, I don't work out at all to give my body a break. I also stay up late and happily binge on TV shows, or re-watch some of my favourite movies. I get to putter around and spend time leisurely reading, as opposed to the regular work week which requires me to lead an itinerant life, to be on time, to be focused, to be ready to handle anything. Christmas means I get to unscrew my brain and insert inside instead silly thoughts. Yay!

But as the title of this post suggests, there are also some things I hate about Christmas. Let me begin with the massive table of food that is served on Christmas day; the turkeys, hams, scalloped potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls upon rolls and more dishes like green beans and carrots, enough food to kill every person sitting at the table, until their bellies are ready to burst. It's not just the over abundance of food either, but the preparation time involved, and the imbalance of it all, the long and drawn out clean-up afterward. As I had been raised, women in the family were relegated to these tasks. It was just assumed, while the men were given a free pass, allowed to happily do nothing in another room, to watch sports or engage in serious conversation. I tolerated this for a few years, until I rebelled and refused to attend these dinners. Fair is fair and only another woman in the same position would understand this sentiment. If you're a guy, reading this post, thinking to yourself, "Yeah, it was this way too in my house... my mom prepared the meal," I have to ask myself did you ever stop to step up and offer to help? And I mean really help, by rolling up your sleeves to prepare the meal, to help clear up the multitude of dirty dishes?

I also intensely hate the commercialization of the Christmas season. Christmas was never intended to be a merchandising bonanza of spending, where credit card debt is piled up high like a tower. The intent of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Christ, bcus the first Christmas occurred in England in 1038, or at least it was recorded as such. In Roman times, they observed on this day a switch in roles, slave and master, with masters serving slaves. But not in modern times, where advertising is king and spending season begins before Halloween. Personally, I won't even put up decorations until Remembrance Day is done, because I want to leave November alone, to commemorate all those brave souls whose lives were sacrificed in our two world wars. It's the least we can do for them, rather than to wait until the very day after Remembrance Day to begin the Christmas slinging of buy, buy, buy.

I also hate the stress level at Christmas which feels like it goes through the roof, as many corporations in Canada are dealing with end of fiscal year budgets, and therefore the rush to get work and or projects out the door is unrelenting, all with the aim of using up whatever monies are left in the budget. This applies more with the Government of Canada and how their contracts are fulfilled through a Request for Proposal process, with deadlines coming in on December 31st, which means proposals writers don't get to enjoy time off at Christmas, as they are knee-deep in a deadline. How is this fair? How do these deadlines embrace the spirit of Christmas to love and honour family, to spend quality time with them?

Finally, I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas music videos which are surgery sweet and all that is nice, nor do I watch Christmas romance movies on the Women's network because each movie begins and ends the same. I've got nothing against those who love this sort of thing, and all the more power to them. I do, however, own at least one Christmas-like CD of music by a Quebec musician, Madeleine Peyroux, called Half the Perfect World, which isn't really a holiday CD, but for one track that refers to Christmas coming. So, if you invite me into your home over the holidays and your Christmas music is playing loud and all the day long, don't be surprised if I appear disinterested in the music. It's just me. It's not you. I do, however, make exceptions for Frank Sinatra, whose music at Christmas time makes sense to me, a timeless tradition for many in their homes.

Many corporations don't even use the word Christmas now. The preferred descriptive is Holiday Party vs Christmas party. The intent of this change is to recognize that there are other ethnicities that do not practice the rituals of Christmas. When we were all kids, living under one roof, our family ritual was to attend Midnight mass, following which we'd return home, and my father would get out his bottle of Crown Royal rye-whiskey and pour each of us kids a small sliver to toast our family. Then we were permitted to open one gift, after which we were sent off to bed. By 5 AM, however, and because we were wired, we were wide awake and ready to tear down the stairs to rip apart the wrapping on gifts. It was a free-for-all.

For years too I've volunteered to help those less fortunate by working in soup kitchens, or packing backpacks at youth services for teenagers who don't have a home. I've cooked meals too in some of these places, and painted their walls. There's an immense feeling of accomplishment by giving of your time freely to those who've nothing and your personal time, to my mind, is worth more than a seasonal gift.

Ho! Ho! Ho!