Christmas sort of snuck up on me this year. I heard Christmas music in a store the other day and I was startled. I just can't believe it is so close. I feel like every year I have a different feeling about Christmas, sometimes I am super excited, other times I feel a bit reticent about it all. I suppose that's normal, but if I compare myself to others who go all in on this holiday starting on November 1, my approach can seem lacking.
A few things about our holiday season will be different this year:
- We are still working on our home renovations and we are unsure if we will be able to move upstairs by Christmas Day. Our decorations are in storage so we haven't had any thought of putting up our outdoor lights and don't know if we will be able to get our normal big tree.
- We aren't going to see Santa at the mall this year. Truthfully the set up at our local mall Sherway Gardens lost its charm over the past few years. They used to do sessions of about 25 kids where Santa would read a book, they would sing some songs, and then each kid would have a chance to sit with Santa for photos. But the past few years it's just been photos, which is the norm, but it doesn't seem worth it this year. We have not had the talk about Santa in our house, although there have been a few questions.
- We aren't having our annual friends and neighbours Christmas party. Our house isn't ready for that and we are really sad to miss out. We have had a party every year since we moved in in 2014 (except for 2020). We'll be back better than ever next year! Or maybe we'll do a mid-winter party so we can show off our renovations before too long.
- Because of our lack of party and our current accommodations, it also means I'm haven't put any thought into Christmas baking.
However the school Christmas Winter concert is back this year!! So although E has aged out of it, Q will be performing and I'll be looking forward to that!
I think above all, no matter how I am feeling about the actual holiday season, I always keep the true meaning of Christmas at the top of my mind. At choir on Sunday, we sang our first Christmas anthem, and the words from the arrangement of "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming" we were singing really struck me, of course I can't find the exact wording here and I forgot to make a note of it at the time, but it's basically that Mary brought forth a child, and that's it, that's the meaning of Christmas for me. I think I will keep those words as my touchstone throughout this season.
I didn't think about how your renovations would impact your Christmas this year. Hopefully you can find some new, fun, meaningful traditions in this year of a different Christmas. And YES, you should absolutely have a mid-winter party! February is so blah I bet your neighbours would love it :)
ReplyDeleteYour picture of Jesus asking about his birthday party made me chuckle out loud. Years ago I use to host at church for the Christmas Eve service, a birthday party for baby Jesus. This way the kids were kept busy downstairs while the parents could enjoy the candlelight service upstairs. It was one of my favourite things to do. We played games that we could tie into the Christmas story such as pin the tail on the donkey & talked about the donkey that Mary rode on to Bethlehem & then Jesus rode a donkey at his return to Jerusalem. Of course we served cake.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the holidays sort of snuck up on me as well this year and while I haven't done much at all to prepare I also feel like I don't have that much to do. Christmas gets a bit easier each year as the kids get older and I have less and less people to buy for... I know we'll still have fun and I actually prefer these less fuss holidays since it's a relief in some ways but I definitely am not one of those ALL IN Christmas people.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that Christmas has snuck up! I started watching Hallmark Christmas movies in the first week of November then it feels like I went on fast forward and the last couple of weeks have just flown by. It will be December soon! How did that happen???
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