Christmas is awesome.
I have always pined for a tree, a fireplace, perfectly wrapped gifts, carols. It was a Lifetime movie in my head. Everyone was so happy on Christmas. Charlie Brown, Frosty, Meredith Baxter-Birney. Even Schneider from One Day at a Time softened up for the holiday. It's that good.
Chanukah doesn't hold a candle to it. There's no TV special that makes you feel all warm and good inside. Charlie Brown never lit a menorah. So as a jewish kid, I looked forward to Christmas as much as (if not more than) chanukah.
Now as a cynical adult, I see the brilliant marketing behind the holiday. Having never celebrated it, I wonder if it's as awesome as I imagine it. Are the chestnuts roasting on the open fire? Is the family unit sitting in their flannel pajamas listening to music while staring at the fire?
If we did Christmas, I imagine it would look like this:
Tree decorations all over the floor, baby eating pine needles by the handful.
HM opening the corners of every gift to see which one's hers and LOUDLY caroling.
#1 skipping Christmas dinner and eating 8 waffles at midnight.
Christmas Day would be a chaotic morning with revved up hyperactive kids opening gifts they don't need and throwing wrapping paper all over the floor. Baby would then eat wrapping paper by the handful.
Because that's pretty much what our chanukah looked like. Except with more candles.
I watched a Very Smurfy Christmas today with the kids. I saw in their eyes the same glazed look of awe and peace that I had as a kid (and today) watching these shows.
Life can really be warm and good. For one day a year, everyone gets along. Smurf Village was aglow and Gargamel wasn't such a jerk. The music plays. Everyone hugs in the end. Gratitude abounds.
Cynics are quiet.
Christmas is awesome.
Merry Christmas to all my gentile peeps. Happy Festivus to the rest of us.
1 comment:
Pam,
Growing up with Christmas was as wonderful as you imagine...Beautiful music, siblings getting along, the joy of wrapping gifts for others, getting the decorations out and covering the house, baking with my mom. We always used to watch the classic movie Holiday Inn with the whole family present. Another tradition was to go into the woods and pick our xmas tree from the wild. It was a family affair and a day outside in the snow with laughter and joking. Even when I was in college my parents would wait for us to get home to go get the tree. My mom always got me an Advent Calendar and that was a happier memory for me than all the toys on the big day. However, i will also say that it is no longer like this for many families. The commercialism is definitely much, much worse and the religious, quiet, soft part of the holiday seems to missing (at least looking from the outside). Your blog brought back many memories for me. I need to find a way to instill soul touching memories for Sophie that bring as much joy. I've yet to find the holiday that does that.
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