I\u2019m not Scrooge and I\u2019m not the Grinch, either\u2014but December is enough to make me feel like one of those guys. It\u2019s only December 6, and I\u2019m feeling sick and tired of this month.<\/p>\n
Could we schedule anything else? Seriously. I cut back on parties and try to simplify, just like nice mommy articles suggest. I do. I make or buy four carefully chosen presents per child in pre-set categories, so I don\u2019t overspend. I refuse every invitation I can. But what else are we going to cut? The first grade Gingerbread Man play, the Christmas piano recital, or the December Dance Showcase? The Christmas Cruise or the Living Nativity? The ward Christmas party that we\u2019re helping with or the employees\u2019 Christmas party (not that\u2014I got to meet Ben Huff\u2019s parents!)? I admit that I set myself up for failure years ago by starting traditions like decorating the Monday after Thanksgiving without fail<\/em> and cooking a specific Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day morning breakfast, and Christmas day luncheon. What am I going to do\u2014disappoint everyone by serving cold cereal and leftovers? Refusing to put up decorations this year like I threatened to do? Every year my dreams of sitting cozily by the Christmas tree and reading cute stories flitter away just like the glitter dust we throw at the city\u2019s \u201cLights On\u201d Ceremony.<\/p>\n I am tired of decorations. There is too much clutter and mess, and I resent the time it takes to put it all up and the time it takes to put it all down, not to mention the annoyance of cleaning around and over and through holly garlands, Christmas figurines, and pine needles. I make Christmas jam in June or July for neighbor gifts, but I still have to deliver them and carol at the doors for a list of people that grows longer by the year\u2014not that I\u2019m complaining about having too many friends, truly I\u2019m not. But I am tired of organizing my Christmas card list (why do you people have to move to new houses all the time?), folding cards, addressing envelopes, and sticking stamps. But I love to receive cards and hear what people from my past are doing, so I have to send out mine.<\/p>\n And service projects. Don\u2019t even get me started. You are going to get\u00a0mad at me, I just know it. But I have to tell you that I am pretty sick of service, too\u2014or at least, of service projects. We have the ward service project, the elementary school service project, the middle school service project, the National Junior Honor Society project, and various school class service projects. There is the homeless shelter food drive and pick-up, as well as the deserving people and organizations asking for help and donations at every single store or business I go to this month. In the mode of \u201ccutting back on Christmas,\u201d I\u2019m skipping the service-learning project in my class this semester (Shhh. Don\u2019t tell.) and the December blood drive. I\u2019m sorry. I know I\u2019m being sarcastic, so you might not believe me when I say that I feel guilty about my bad attitude. Money is tight, but there\u2019s still that nasty choking in my throat each time I walk by the ringing bells of the Salvation Army and don\u2019t hear my coins clink in their metal buckets. I gave at the last three stores, so I have to avert my eyes when the cashier asks, \u201cDo you want to donate to ____?\u201d and I say with pretended cheerfulness, \u201cNot today!\u201d<\/p>\n I wonder what all this teaches my children about service. I want them to love being charitable, so you\u2019d think that would make me want to run around doing every single service project out there. That would set a good example of service, right? Oh, it makes me tired just thinking about it. My Christmas dream is to slow down and focus on our family service project. It\u2019s personal, it\u2019s serious, and it hits close to home. My children are emotionally invested in our project, and I think it\u2019s important for them to actually work and serve in a way that impacts their lives. Our family service project was chosen to do that. But what about the rest of the projects? What do my kids learn when they see their exhausted, Christmas-worn mom run to the store (again) and shell out a few more dollars for one more can of this or that, which they then toss flippantly into the service box at school? They don\u2019t learn the value of money, the value of time, or the value of their mom. They think service is bringing a note home, showing it to the adult, and carrying back whatever the adult tucked into the recycled grocery bag. What can I do? The projects are all worthy and valuable, but we\u2019re spread so thin. I\u2019m left feeling haggard, miserly, and guilty, and I hate December for making me feel like that.<\/p>\n So that is my whining. I\u2019m sick and tired of December. Or maybe I\u2019m just tired. That happens to me occasionally. But I\u2019ve decided to suffer through for a couple of reasons. First, I can never get enough Christmas music. Bring me carols, ring me bells, sing me \u201cHallelujah.\u201d Praise the Lord in song! One month is not nearly long enough to listen to everyone from Fred Waring to Rebecca St. James, from David Lanz to my new favorite, Celtic Woman. The peace and joy that is supposed to be Christmas pours down and washes over me through a rousing rendition of \u201cHark the Herald!\u201d or \u201cJoy to the World!\u201d Even a serene, instrumental version will cause me to take a deep breath, smile, and remember. Because there is something else I can never get enough of: celebrating the birth of my Savior. A baby was born in Bethlehem, and I believe he grew up to become my way, my truth, and my light. A mere month per year is not nearly long enough to honor Him.<\/p>\n With the first snow of the season drifting down outside, me feeling warm and cozy here on my soft couch, the white lights of the Christmas tree sparking in that bright glow of white winter, and the kids still fast asleep, the clutter and confusion fade for a minute. A cup of hot cocoa would complete the Christmas image, but today is Fast Sunday. I\u2019ll be fasting in gratitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m not Scrooge and I\u2019m not the Grinch, either\u2014but December is enough to make me feel like one of those guys. It\u2019s only December 6, and I\u2019m feeling sick and tired of this month. Could we schedule anything else? Seriously. I cut back on parties and try to simplify, just like nice mommy articles suggest. I do. I make or buy four carefully chosen presents per child in pre-set categories, so I don\u2019t overspend. I refuse every invitation I can. But what else are we going to cut? The first grade Gingerbread Man play, the Christmas piano recital, or the December Dance Showcase? The Christmas Cruise or the Living Nativity? The ward Christmas party that we\u2019re helping with or the employees\u2019 Christmas party (not that\u2014I got to meet Ben Huff\u2019s parents!)? I admit that I set myself up for failure years ago by starting traditions like decorating the Monday after Thanksgiving without fail and cooking a specific Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day morning breakfast, and Christmas day luncheon. What am I going to do\u2014disappoint everyone by serving cold cereal and leftovers? Refusing to put up decorations this year like I threatened to do? Every year my dreams of sitting cozily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1313,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-december","category-parenting"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10450,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449\/revisions\/10450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}