Baaa Humbug

So here I am and it's not even Thanksgiving and I feel overwhelmed by Christmas being around the corner. My Halloween decorations aren't even in their boxes yet and I'm worrying about who's going to string the Christmas lights. In fact I had to force myself to leave my Thanksgiving decorations out as I was picking up earlier because, come on we haven't even celebrated it yet!!


Now if I had been consulted when the calendars were made I would have suggested Thanksgiving be moved up a few weeks to allow for plenty of time between it and Christmas. As it is now the Christmas decor goes out with the fall decor in September and I really just, well I just think it's wrong. I would like to savor fall before I get thrown into tidings of joy and good cheer. Speaking of good cheer do you know who really becomes not cheerful around this frenzy of tinsel and mistle toe. My husband!


Now don't get me wrong he is all about Christmas, celebrating our faith, being with family, advent wreaths etc. But he has difficulty with the undo stress it puts on our pocketbook, the busy malls (not that he enjoys them at any time), holiday traffic, fattening food (now that he has lost over 30 lbs.), well and lets face it, the constant harassment that tends to go on at this time of year.


So after several years of marriage I finally caught on that this is not his favorite time . But in order to make it joyful for the rest of us I've learned a few things... Sit down as far ahead of time as you dare and make your Christmas budget. Whether all the money comes out of one paycheck or several spread out over time, but have your cash stash before you go shopping. Never use the credit card, because those pretty diamond earrings or top of the line camera do-hickey that made you weak in the knees on Christmas morning will make you sick at your stomach when the bill comes in. Focus on the reason for the season instead of stressing over whether or not your gifts are big enough or if the receivers will like it. In fact, with the kids they get one gift from Santa and one big gift from Mom and Dad (I'm thinking my friend Connie from Smockity Frocks gave me this idea). And you know what, it works great and it seems to actually help them to decide what it is they really want. Plus, hubb's family sends out e-mail Christmas lists which takes the stress out of which brother-in-law really wants socks for Christmas and which one would rather choke on them if he gets one more pair.

So around here we are focusing on family, remembering the birth story of Jesus, lighting our advent candles, and having fun making goodies and homeade gifties. And we are waiting until after Thanksgiving to put up our decorations so we can savour our turkey in autumn bliss, thank you very much!