Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. We had a pretty quiet day in the Bailey/Lynch/Gingras household. We joined some family friends for dinner at their house which is always a happy treat. I love seeing my pseudo-big brother Chris (who better read this!). I got a lot of lovely presents from everyone- mostly clothes, luggage, and other treats for DC! I'm also be getting a new "smart"phone tomorrow! I didn't even know my current phone was dumb! Right now I'm rocking the Chocolate circa 2007... antique! Of course, for us broken home kids holidays are week-long events. My festivities continue tomorrow with visits to Grams' and Daddy Bailey's. There are some benefits to having Santa bring presents to multiple houses.
The holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year, and in a lot of ways they are. But frankly, I think the expectations are a wee bit too high. I'm getting to that grown-up age where childhood traditions change and some parts of the holiday will forever remain as memories. Other than the obvious missing Santa these days, I miss the days of lobster and mannicoti for Christmas dinner and bossing around my relatives while I conducted the Yankee Swap. Other than the food memories, some traditions cause more headache than anything else. To be honest, I think it is more important to do what makes you happy for the holidays instead of what may have been "tradition."
Here's the best rule of thumb- if your holiday traditions don't make you laugh, change it. It's the only way to make it the "most wonderful time of the year." There will always be a good share of embarrassing moments, tears, and ugly sweaters, but I hope to be surrounded by people I love rather than people I'm trying to avoid. I try to measure my family by the amount of love shared rather than chromosomes. Regardless of what you believe, I hope everyone feels loved this holiday. That, to me, is the most valuable message of Christmas. To love and be loved is the greatest gift of all.
Merry Christmas!
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