Tis the season
Those of you who know me will be only too acutely aware of my love-hate relationship with this time of year. My grinchiness is well known among my previous work colleagues.
Those of you with a keen eye will have noted I called it a love-hate relationship. There are elements that I am pretty cool with (not many) but some bits are good. The chance to catch up with distant friends, the relatives you actually like and sharing the joy on little faces.
Unfortunately the flip side has tended to dominate over the years. I think a large part of it was the job I was in. A newspaper doesn't stop for the festive season. It can be difficult to get excited when you know you are working. I'm sure the same applies to all our emergency service workers, hospital staff etc. But there is more to it than not being an active participant. Trying to just go about your normal job when everyone around you is going feral used to drive me nuts! What is it with people? It's not like the shops are never going to open again...in fact they almost never close.
It would be great if everyone took a breath, slowed down and maybe were a little bit nice to each other. Yes, I know some are (nice that is) but they are in the minority.
And then there is the overpowering drive of over-the-top commerciality. The expectation of receiving piles of loot just astounds me. The fact that parents try to fulfill the expectation amazes me more.
Maybe it's the wisdom that comes with age (or that there are too many people and too few dollars to be lavish) but our family (the kids are all grown up) decided not to exchange gifts and instead concentrate on getting together to share food and fun. We are also a blended family and found trying to get to see everyone on Christmas Day was too stressful (almost impossible) and no-one actually enjoyed themselves (and as mentioned earlier, I often had to work). Our solution is to organise a family event the weekend before Christmas (usually with a dress-up theme) with lots of food and drink, fun and frivolity. Almost stressless and everyone has a great time. Lots of great memories have been created on these crazy days.
However you choose to the mark the occasion, I hope you have a wonderful time. Spare a thought for those suffering around the world, those who don't have family to celebrate with and those who are missing loved ones.
Merry Christmas Dad.