I’m not anti-holiday, I swear. I am all in favor of everyone else’s celebrations. I love to see happy people.
I’m not crazy about the unhappy ones, however, and this time of year, if you spend much time in a mall, you will see them. If, like I, you are employed in retail, you will not only see them, you will be obliged to make them less unhappy. This is not always possible. The only cure for the crowded parking lots, the lines at the register, and whatever else is aggravating these folks is mid-January.
But enough about them; let’s talk about me.
My attitude about the holidays, Christmas in particular, has fluctuated wildly throughout my life. I grew up with the same misty, romantic vision of Christmas as everyone else, and occasionally the Christmases of my early childhood met the ideal.
I’ve had good Christmases and bad, and I don’t intend to catalogue them all now. (although some of them may rate their own posts someday) I will mention, however, that I spent a Christmas alone at age 26, and found it quite pleasant. I read all day long. Alternatively, I’ve struggled (unsuccessfully) with attaining the “perfect” holiday, stressing over family dynamics, cards, gifts, entertaining and everything else.
This Christmas is the one that counts. Due to my little job, I’ve had Christmas in my face (in a very tasteful way) since before Halloween. As much as I enjoy looking at the decorations at work, I can’t get too worked up about replicating them at home. There’s time- I may bust out a few trinkets between now and next weekend, but we’ll be passing on a tree. Time permitting, I may find an evergreen wreath, just to get that gorgeous smell in the house. I will fill stockings for The Kid and Dr. T, and I can trust him to make a ridiculously great meal when the day comes.
And that’s about it. Anything else will be bonus.
Happy Holidays to all, and remember this:
1) Your holidays are YOUR holidays, to make as much or as little of as you choose.
2) Those people who are trying to help you as you do your shopping are doing their best; they don’t make much money, and their feet probably hurt. Try to be patient.
thatdifficultstage 
Amen, sistah!!
Long ago, even way before store panic, I gave up on Christmas in the traditional commercial sense. starting making my gifts and cards out of sheer aversion to cash registers and crowds of overly cheerful and/or overly grumpy. looking for stuff around the ranch to fill in a wreath picked up at a roadside Christmas tree farm. stopped feeling guilty for not doing anything at all for Christmas except watching the Christmas Eve mass from the Vatican and the A Christmas Story movie over and over and over.
even though the Day has spiritual significance for me — i do believe that Christ was born, and in all that is present in his name Immanuel — i believe that human beings have, as they do most things, totally fucked it up. therefore, it is totally up to me and my planet to do it right, whatever that means in whatever year.