Bring on the Christmas madness, and you’re lucky if you get any sleep at all. Can’t find my bed. It’s buried in laundry to be folded and plastic boxes of stored gift wrap underneath. Surely there must be tape and scissors in there, too.
At this point, I’m feeling as though I can just bypass the sleep, and get all the Christmas stuff done in time to put on my cheery face next weekend, when all the Christmas celebrations begins. Who needs sleep?
And no need dream of a white Christmas, either. We have plenty of snow. Of course, there’s a price to pay for this splendid imagery of a white Christmas. The lofty visions of having all my shopping done and wrapped have been cast aside. During the storm I baked cookies instead, as the snow and freezing rained howled outside. This is winter, and this is Christmas. What’s not to love?
Yet, here we are in the third week of December, and the most frequently asked question is, “Have you gotten your shopping done?” And there are those nauseating responses of those who are proud to let you know that not only are they done shopping, the presents are also all wrapped, too. Ugh! Are they just proficient at going through the routine motions of the season, or are they blessed with inspirational, loving ideas, of the perfect gift for everyone on their list?
My mother called to talk about Christmas and the weather in Maine. Massachusetts has 17 inches of snow, and how about us? Is my shopping all done, or has this storm screwed up my shopping plans? “What do you want for Christmas?” I ask. “I need nothing” she replies, inquiring the same of me. To which my reply is the same. It is the truth. Yet, we both will agonize to find a little something. Each year I ask why?
Oh, how I wish some brilliant, inspirational and exciting gift would come to mind for me to give to somebody. But nothing strikes me. I go through the empty motions of buying stuff, because that’s what we’re supposed to do at Christmas. It’s the part of Christmas that stresses me out the most. Going through aimless motions of shopping simply for the sake of shopping makes no sense to me. And I don’t think I’m alone.
At my urging, I nudge my mother off the shopping topic, and move onto the menu for Christmas dinner instead. She complies. I’m beginning to visualize Christmas day. The gifts have all been unwrapped, the wrapping paper has been cleaned up and I scurry to find a new home for the many gifts received as a fire burns softly in the fireplace. The stillness and calm of the day finally settles in. It’s time to relax and feast on the delights of the season. This is Christmas. A day when everything stands still. As evening falls, a relaxed dinner follows.
But we’re a long way from that at this moment. The snow falls outside, and we plan Christmas dinner. There’s plenty of time to talk – nobody is going anywhere. The radio in the background announces the lengthy list of closures due to the storm. I hang up the phone and continue the cookie baking late into the evening. It’s a once-a-year tradition that I love.
I yawn, and pray for an energetic elf (or two) to arrive in my kitchen to clean up the storm of flour that blankets the kitchen counter and floor. I make my way to bed, pondering my Christmas wish list: more nor’easters, only after Christmas, not before; and time to stop everything and just be. Snow days offer this. As for a gift for my mother, cookies it will be.
The shopping season is drawing to an end, and it’s time for what is really Christmas – quality time with family and friends, on a day free from the hectic demands of everyday life.
Merry Christmas.
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