The Magic of Christmas

I love Christmas.  I’ve always loved Christmas.  I don’t know if I ever really believed in God, but I certainly believed in Santa Claus.  And in a way, I still do.  No, I know where the presents come from.  But I still like to see that joy on Christmas morning when my kids open those Santa presents, which are always way better than the crap I give them.  There’s something magical about the Santa presents, and it’s a little sad now that the older ones really aren’t into that.  Sure, they’ll be happy to get those Santa presents, but it’s definitely not the same.

But it’s not just the presents.  It’s the whole thing.  The lights, and the tree, and the music, and everything.  I even like last minute shopping and spending WAAAAAAY more than I had ever planned to, which I’ve done every year since I had kids.  It’s all about the magic.  I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t love Christmas.  For me, it was always something to look forward to all year.  Partly, that may have been because whenever we told my mom that we wanted something, she’d always tell us “Christmas is coming”, which was somehow to indicate that we’d just have to wait until then to get it.  Which we probably didn’t.  She was just shutting us up.  And now I do that to my kids.  Even days after Christmas, I’ve been known to tell my kids that Christmas was coming whenever they ask for crap.  And it works.  I usually don’t buy them the crap and they leave me alone.  That’s working magic, people.

And let’s face it.  It’s not even really about the crap.  I’ll take anything, the thought doesn’t really count.  Sure, I’d much rather get something I wanted.  But I just like opening the presents.  As a kid, I’d often get so excited that I’d start opening other people’s presents too.  I had a big family and just couldn’t help it.  And it didn’t really matter.  All that mattered was that I got to open something.  And I do that with my kids too.  Not that I open their presents.  But that I buy them crap just so they can unwrap it on Christmas morning.  Not this year, as I think all my gift choices were spot-on.  But it’s how it usually goes.  Sure, days later I’ll be wondering why I had ever grabbed that crap in the first place; but on that morning it seemed like magic.

And that’s what it’s all about.  We’re all looking for that magic, something special to keep things going and convince us that it’s all worth it.  And it is.  Everything doesn’t always work out, but there’s always that certain something that makes it all worth while.  And for me, I get that every year at Christmastime.  Not just the day, which can often feel slightly let down if you didn’t get what you were really hoping for; but the entire season.  From the weird post-Thanksgiving transition through the nightmarish New Years Day hangover, it’s just one big highlight.  And that’s what it’s all about.

So I hope all y’all got a great Christmas planned, and if you don’t, you can at least be glad you’re not hurt.  Unless you are hurt, in which you case you should be glad for the pain pills.  Unless you don’t have any, and then things just suck.  But don’t worry, there’s always next Christmas, and maybe you won’t be in pain by then.  Or maybe you’ll be dead.  But whatever it is, there’s always something to look forward to.  And if not, you can think of all the fun I’m having.  That’s what I do.