CHRISTMAS CHEER!

Christmas time for me, like for many, is always a magical but stressful time. I often struggle with a balance between remembering the “Reason for the Season” and the commercialism that currently starts in as early as September at Costco, often giving the message about getting the right present for the right person. To my delight, in the past year a Christmas “jingle song” repeated itself in my head. Yes! I hear voices! Where did that come from?

Memories…Christmas was always the best when the kids were little! Decorating and baking, Christmas parties and concerts, The Christmas pageant at church, the Christmas eve service, letters and cookies and milk for Santa…Magical but Stressful. The kids were so excited Christmas Eve that they couldn’t sleep and yet Nick and I still needed to wrap all those presents and get them under the tree for Christmas morning. Sometimes as a mother I struggled with getting the kids what they wanted and still something that I felt was good for them and for me. For example, having two boys, I could never reconcile myself to giving the toy guns that they wanted that looked like a real gun. They ended up with something fluorescent and all the teaching that went with it. This may have led to periodic disappointments at Christmas.

 

Christmas Memories! The 3 year old handprint from my oldest child that made me cry when I opened it and all the special Christmas ornaments that remind me of family and friends when I still decorate my tree with them.

The year Curtis was born…December 17^th, 1987. I was one week overdue and the only day I didn’t want to have this baby was the December17^th as it was Bradley’s first playschool Christmas concert. I stayed up all night working on a Christmas robe for Bradley and at 6 a.m. that morning I went into labor. Needless to say we missed the Christmas Concert and Nick and I ended up writing our Christmas letter from the delivery room! I’ll never forget how Brad calmed his brother in the nursery by singing “Away in the Manger to him”. Precious memories. That was the Christmas Nick’s company closed down in Edmonton. Magic and Stress!

Memories….The Christmas Pageant …. As a proud mom, I watched my boys be wise men, and Heather, who was a little lamb, fell asleep on the stage. My first Christmas Concert performance was at the Circle Hill Hall. I remember feeling like a princess with my ringlets in that royal blue, velvet dress my mother made for me, and reciting the poem… Now Humor me!( I have a good memory)

“Dear Dolly”

Christmas day will soon be here,

So I must tell my dolly dear,

To be so very, very good

And act like all nice dollies should.

Now Dolly, don’t you make a fuss!

Santa’s going to come to us!

I’ll hang your stocking next to mine,

Don’t you think that will be fine?”

 

I remember family and neighbors Clapping… my first stage performance! Then Santa came in his red velvet suit at the end of the Concert. What excitement. He grabbed my hand and did the twist with me to “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”. I believe I got a Chatty Cathy that Christmas. How many of you had Chatty Cathy? “So vivid! Now I think about all the effort my parents put into making Christmas magical for us.

Memories…Christmas Shopping! To complicate matters, often Nick was gone in December. For many years I rode the bus to West Edmonton Mall to do my Christmas shopping in one day with my friend Barb. One year Nick came home and I, in my rush to get out on my own and do Christmas shopping, backed out of the garage with the garage door not open! Thank goodness I have a patient husband! Then there was the year the kids were sick all December and Nick was gone so that became a Costco Christmas. If Costco didn’t have it, it wasn’t under the tree. This particular Christmas Eve, things finally seemed right with the world. Nick was home and the last one to get ill, my oldest son who was a teenager, seemed to be recovering. He had been at a sleepover the night before and I assumed he was vomiting with the flu bug that had hit the rest of the family. We had time to sit down as a family and watch a Christmas movie. Then my mother’s intuition kicked in. Out of my mouth came the words, “You recovered quickly. If I didn’t know better I would think you had a hangover?” Silence. My son could never lie to me. I repeated, “If I didn’t know better I would think you had a hangover”. The truth came out. The sleepover actually became a “hangover”. Isn’t parenting fun. I didn’t have to punish him as I believe his “sickness” taught him a lesson on it’s own! My little boy was growing up. Here comes the teenage years!

Memories… The year Meghan and Rachel joined our family to make us a family of 5.

Memories….Not always joyful…the devastating year with the loss of our sister-in-law, Nick’s

grandmother passing, and my father breaking his hip all in one week that December. It was difficult to find joy that

Christmas… but we did. Somehow kids are good for that. We celebrated Christmas Day, and also my Dad’s birthday in the hospital in Lethbridge after my Dad’s surgery, with the boys having wheelchair races and blowing up hospital gloves for balloons. YUP! …Little time to be sad. So many memories and more yet to come! Life is unpredictable…Yet the“Reason for the Season” remains paramount. The Birth of the Christ Child and the message of God’s Love for us will always be a constant. Merry Christmas to all of you!

I never know how as song is going to present itself. I had the first lines and melody for the song Christmas Day for quite a while before the song developed. I think it combines many elements that reflect the reality of Christmas for me. Thank you to Jochanan Dufresne for vocals for this song. I hope this song gives you a bit of joy during the magic and stress of Christmas!

Please share any of your magic or memories in the comments. I would love to hear them.