So this is Christmas...?

It's coming on Christmas and for some strange reason, I'm depressed. Maybe it's the fact that the economy is so bad. Maybe it's the fact that I'm getting older and actually realize that there really is no Santa Clause. Maybe it's the fact that I feel like I have not been a very good wife or mother. I can't quite put my finger on it, but my favorite Christmas carols, baking and decorating the tree just didn't do it for me this year. Maybe I have just worked myself too hard trying to make the perfect Christmas at home. Maybe it's because with each passing Christmas I forget more and more about my own Christmases as a child, hence forgetting my mother a little more each year. Or, maybe it is because my family that is left and means so much to me is another year older and it could always be their last Christmas. I don't know, but what I do know is that regardless of how I feel, I will do whatever it takes to make this a good Christmas for my kids.

I thought "maybe what I need is a good dose of "It's a Wonderful Life" or "White Christmas" or even "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I wasn't walking around saying "Bah, Humbug" or anything, but I just couldn't seem to understand it, then...

I started thinking...why isn't anyone saying "Merry Christmas"? Why is it "Happy Holidays"? And why have we taken everything there is to love about Christmas out of the schools, shopping malls and office spaces. Why is it "Politically Incorrect" to say Merry Christmas? Since when do reindeer have religious meaning? Or even better, why is a Christmas Tree offensive?

I sat and thought long and hard about answers to these questions. I have taken a stand...yes, I tell everyone Merry Christmas...except my Jewish co-workers who I wish a Happy Hanukkah. We have a reindeer in our office and hung candy canes in protest. I'm a rebel I know, but it is America and I can celebrate CHRISTMAS if I wish darn it!

OK my venting is done, and I would like to share with you my true thoughts of Christmas. Yes, Jesus was born on Christmas to save us all. We celebrate his birth and this is the true meaning of Christmas and why we should celebrate it in the first place. I was wondering if I was really doing that with my kids. I wasn't sure until the other day:

We were planning a quiet Christmas at home...just the four of us, when I discovered that my friend Kris would be all alone here in DC for Christmas. We asked the kids if they would mind if Ms. Kris spent a few days with us at Christmas. Ashley immediately said "Mommy, Ms. Kris can have my bed and then we need to get her a present for under our tree." See, at that moment I knew Ashley "got it".

Daniel, for instance, loved taking Christmas cookies and popcorn to some of the neighbors this weekend. He was so upset when the little old lady next door did not answer the door the two times we knocked that he actually started crying thinking she didn't want our Christmas present. (Truth be told, she is a shut in and I have to call her son to have him ask her to open the door for us) He also couldn't understand why we couldn't take gifts to the entire neighborhood! OK, Daniel has "gotten it".

So, what is Christmas? Giving up your warm bed for a friend? Taking treats to friends and neighbors? Sharing your "family time" with those who can't be with their family? Yes, THAT is what Christmas is all about and I think THAT is better than any present I can receive on Christmas morning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & GOD BLESS!!!