Christmas.

I love Christmas, and I also hate it. I guess I mean that I hate what Christmas has become. And everyone says the same thing....all the cliches about how it's so commercial now, it's not how it was when we were kids, its all about the money, and so on.   Everyone agrees.

It's like Disneyland. You know how Disneyland touts itself as The Happiest Place on Earth, yet when you're actually there, your ears are filled with the sounds of crying children, children throwing temper tantrums, overwhelmed, overtired, over excited?.  Everyone is having a meltdown. However, when you're home again, and reliving it through pictures and memories, it's all a rosy bowl of cherries. Christmas is like that. It's full of gimme and greed and "I want, I want, I want ". Everyone agrees. It's too commercial. It's too expensive. The meaning is long gone, be it religious or not, it's not "Christmas" anymore.

But everyone does the same thing every year....they start earlier and spend more.They all agree that we all go overboard. But they start buying next years presents on Boxing Day.  The sooner the better.

I think everyone wants to have the Christmas of the past, the perfect family Christmas. The Norman Rockwell kind. 

An old fashioned Christmas. Sigh.....does that even exist anymore? 

I was reading a letter that someone wrote to a Facebook forum the other day.  In a nutshell, this is what she wrote:

"Just a gentle reminder to all you parents out there to be modest with your gifts from ""Santa"". Not all parents have a ton of cash to spend on making their kids Christmas special, so it doesn't make sense to have Santa give your kid a PlayStation4, a bike, and an iPad, while his best friend at school gets a new hat and mittens from Santa. You know? Give something small from Santa and make the more expensive presents from you. 

You can explain the value of money to kids, but you can't explain Santa's discrimination to a heartbroken kid. Keep that in mind this year and always..."

That's all she said. She said it gently and respectfully. And it makes sense. It's hard to explain to your kid that Santa gave Little Johnnie all those fancy toys, yet he only gave you  a small toy or some new clothes. 

All this woman did was voice her opinion. And Holy Cow, what an uproar she caused.

The comments were all along the lines of:

-Then get a better job.

-Don't tell me what to get my kid.

-It's not my problem if you're too broke (lazy, useless etc) to give your kid a good Christmas .

-Jealous of people that have more money than you?

-I'll do whatever I want, your kid is not my concern.

And the meanest one was:

-So your kid thinks Santa likes the other kids more than her? Suck it up, learn a life lesson.

And the festive "F" word was bandied around quite liberally. Merry Christmas.

It's not like I have an answer or a solution, and I don't have small children, thank goodness, but it's never too late, or too early, to start a new tradition. If not now, then when?

Myself? I need nothing. I have absolutely every material thing I could want. My husband is the same. If I need....and I mean the literal meaning of need....if I need  anything throughout the year, I buy it.  If I want something, I might buy it, or I might not. Depends. So, why spend money on things I don't need, or want, just because its ingrained into us? "It's Christmas....gotta buy, gotta buy, gotta buy...gotta spend, gotta spend, gotta spend..."

My family knows I love them. I don't need to spend money to prove it to anyone else. 

Now, having spouted all that, you may be asking yourself "Didn't she buy her kids anything? Nothing?"

Well of course I did. I now follow the Gift of Four that I read about. I've talked about it before. 

Four gifts. 

1. Something you want. (It's homemade)

2. Something you need. (It's healthy)

3.Something to wear (it's also a "need")

4.Something to read. (Reading is knowledge, and you can never have too much of that.)

Simple. Stress less. Paid for. What's my Christmas credit card bill? Zero. Christmas isn't about having debt. It defeats the purpose to owe a huge corporation money if that's how your Christmas ends.

I have a friend whose family does not buy gifts for each other, they combine the money they would have spent and provide for a needy family. Awesome!

My new daughter-in-law ❤ does not accept nor give gifts, and I am so very proud of that. She is one of the few who "walk the walk". I almost managed to do it this year. 😃. Next year....maybe. I do like stuff a stocking and my Four Gift rule will likely stick around. 

I don't want this:

Or this:

I'd like this:

But I'll happily settle for this:

And I will strive to remember this: 

Think about it: