Christmas Is...
by Maryann Miller

ACK!!! Only two more weeks until Christmas. My husband just had to remind me of this yesterday as we discussed the merits of a live tree over a plastic one. This being our first year in the Piney Woods, I thought it appropriate to do the real thing. After all, we have five acres of trees to choose from. Then he had to remind me of the kids who are allergic to pine trees. It was a tough choice - a visit from the kids or a real tree? Just as I was thinking a nice quiet Holiday alone might be fun, my husband announced he was going to Wal-Mart. They have a nice sale on tabletop trees.

Then he had to remind me that I still didn't have the cards done - my original plan being to finish them early enough for friends and relatives to have our new address. His reminder brought back memories of those years when the children were young and I was swamped with housework, cooking, chauffeuring them from one event to another, and occasionally squeezing in an hour to discuss the budget with my husband. During that period, Christmas was sometimes just a desperate race to get everything done in time. Every year I'd tell myself to start early. Make use of those lazy summer days to at least do the shopping, but somehow I didn't often find my summer days all that lazy. Not to mention how hard it was to think "Christmas" when it's a hundred and five in the shade.

Unfortunately, not much has changed. Now instead of kids, I'm chasing deadlines and critters. So invariably, I'll be running around the week before Christmas, trying to find something for Aunt Lucy and trying to balance the number of packages each of our kids will receive. (They will count them no matter how old they are.)

What bothers me most about last minute shopping isn't the mile long walk to get to the store from the parking lot. It isn't the lady who runs over my foot with her shopping cart. It isn't the clerk who can't possibly tell me where to find the 'must have' toy for this year. What bothers me most is wondering whether I'll make it through the checkout line before the grandchild I bought the tricycle for is ready for a car.

A long time ago I wrote that 'Sometimes Christmas is the frustration of cookie crumbs mashed in the carpeting, candy canes stuck on the sofa cushions and the eighteen truckloads of trash strewn around the living room on Christmas morning. Sometimes it is a sense of futility as I wonder if we'll ever overcome our kids' basic selfishness and teach them the concept of giving as well as receiving. And sometimes it is a feeling of anxiety over whether we've maintained the proper balance between Santa Claus and Bethlehem.'

Now that my children are grown, I've discovered I needn't have worried so much. This year they decided not to exchange gifts and use the money otherwise spent for a charity. Church is an integral part of the Holiday celebration for all of them, and my middle son still likes to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. And family being together is just as important as it was in those years when they delighted in working together to create a surprise for Dad out of a chaos of construction paper and glitter.

My wish for all of you who read this is to find some joy in the midst of your Holiday preparations. Someday when you are sifting through memories, as I am today, you will discover that sometimes Christmas is just perfect.

A VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON
From the Staff at WinnsboroToday.com