CULTURE/SOCIETY: Silly Adult - Christmas is for Kids

This is from a weekly supplement our newspaper puts out for 20- and 30-somethings. But I still read it anyway, just to keep up on what's going on. - OlderMusicGeek.

Silly Adult - Christmas is for Kids
by sarah dose
sarah@dmjuice.com

Yay, holidays.

Ahem.

YAY, HOLIDAYS.

Right?

Oh, &*#@%.

OK. It's not that I hate them. If I boil it down, I actually quite like the festivities that come with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's Eve.

Holiday cards. Holiday lights (although some houses think lights are to be used year-round and not just in December). Cookies. Candy. Family. More family. My mom's incredible caramels. Crab legs for Christmas dinner.

But there are the bad things, too. Shopping. Traffic. "Feliz Navidad" on repeat. Dividing your time to make sure you're spending enough time with each family member/friend/etc.

So I got to thinking the other day. When did I start making the turn to Scrooge-land?

When I was a kid, NOTHING was bad about Christmas. Presents! Candy! Cookies!

Then it hit me. Christmas is for kids. Think about it. Adults don't sit on Santa's lap. Adults don't throw hissy fits when they don't get enough presents. Adults don't display unbridled greed and candy-mongering. Adults don't make three-page Christmas lists. That kind of behavior is "frowned upon."

Yup, Christmas started going downhill when I found out Santa wasn't real. When you find that out, you're not an innocent kid anymore.

When I found out (from my older sister), I couldn't believe it. I couldn't fathom my Barbies being made anywhere but the North Pole. Suddenly, my Barbies were BORING. Then I thought, "My parents lied to me? I will pay them back by being a sullen teenager."

Christmas went downhill even more when I started making money. The novelty (and heartfelt thoughtfulness) of a macaroni necklace for mom just wasn't going to cut it anymore. I had to dish out cash for something she would actually wear in public. Welcome to adulthood.

But I digress ...

This year, I'm going to be a good little girl and not think about the bad parts of Christmas (no 31 year old gets a sack of candy when she leaves church on Christmas Eve).

Instead, I will focus on how lucky I am to be able to spend time with my family (but not too much) and that it's not about the getting, but the giving (even if the present I got my sister was WAY nicer than what she got me).

I will cozy up around the fireplace (or TV) with my family and sing carols (or yell at sportscasters) in coordinating sweaters.

In other words, all I want for Christmas is a little childish innocence (and candy).

A link to all my Christmas and holiday posts

Happy Christmas and/or Boxing Day and/or Kwanzaa and/or Hannakah and/or Bodhi Day and/or Sanghamitta Day and/or Shabe Cheleh and/or Makara Sankranti and/or Junkanoo and/or Dong Zhi and/or Toji and/or Soyal and/or Yule and/or Seva Zistane and/or Alban Arthan and/or Long Night and/or Mean Geimrech and/or Brumalia and/or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and/or Saturnalia and/or Lenaea and/or Wren Day and/or Tekufah Tevet and/or Winter Solstice and/or ChriFSMas and/or any other December or winter solstice holidays I missed!

Oh, and Bah Humbug to those who don't celebrate the holidays! :)