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The 25th is usually quiet for me. Christmas Eve was always my family's big night, before my grandmother died and took everyone's already slight sense of holiday obligation with her. We still have our small traditions, even with my little family of three. Potato soup, talking about what we are grateful for, opening presents...we always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning and I have no idea why. We never had lots of gifts, something I am glad of as I see how the season has become such an awful excuse for bloated toad-like consumerism. I pity the several friends I have whose holidays consist of careful calculations of amounts spent so as to be "enough" for someone. The politics of the Christmas gift is something that amazes me. I am grateful that my family never indulged that particular holiday notion.
My children put a lot of thought into their small gifts--a candle with three scents in one from my youngest, a book of recipes and a handwritten story from my older one. My gift to them this year was a small aquarium for their room. Not that they don't get the full-on spoiled experience from their dad. He's the provider of all the Playstations, GameBoys, and the like. Still, it made me feel good to see both of the kids setting the techie toys aside and intently reading their fish-tending books, earnestly conversing every few minutes about what fish they should choose and why.
The boys spend today with their dad, giving me a quiet house until tomorrow morning. It used to make me sad, spending Christmas alone. Now I look forward to it and enjoy the chance to lounge around in my PJs all day. I putter around the house between napping, eating, and reading. There's plenty of Three Stooges to enjoy on cable. And, of course, there's my perennial holiday favorite: the Law & Order marathon (which probably amounts to only one or two extra episodes, since it's on practically 24-hours-a-day anyhow...but still, it's the thought that counts!).
Tomorrow we head to my folks' house where my holiday fare will probably consist of tamales, hummus, gorgonzola ravioli, baba ganoush, green chile soup and homemade cherry pie. It used to drive me nuts that we had no traditional holiday food stuffs like my friends. My grandmother used to hold the line when it came to turkey; but other than that, there was no telling what we'd end up eating on the holiday. Anything went--and it still does. Now I appreciate the crazy-quilt approach to celebrating. It's only fitting, after all; our extended family is an odd spiritual mix of atheist, agnostic, pagan, Christian, and Jew. Our holidays are akin to blowing confetti out of a cannon. It's a big mess, but it's our mess and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
So here's to all of us and our big messy beautiful lives! Love and peace and namaste to you all!
My children put a lot of thought into their small gifts--a candle with three scents in one from my youngest, a book of recipes and a handwritten story from my older one. My gift to them this year was a small aquarium for their room. Not that they don't get the full-on spoiled experience from their dad. He's the provider of all the Playstations, GameBoys, and the like. Still, it made me feel good to see both of the kids setting the techie toys aside and intently reading their fish-tending books, earnestly conversing every few minutes about what fish they should choose and why.
The boys spend today with their dad, giving me a quiet house until tomorrow morning. It used to make me sad, spending Christmas alone. Now I look forward to it and enjoy the chance to lounge around in my PJs all day. I putter around the house between napping, eating, and reading. There's plenty of Three Stooges to enjoy on cable. And, of course, there's my perennial holiday favorite: the Law & Order marathon (which probably amounts to only one or two extra episodes, since it's on practically 24-hours-a-day anyhow...but still, it's the thought that counts!).
Tomorrow we head to my folks' house where my holiday fare will probably consist of tamales, hummus, gorgonzola ravioli, baba ganoush, green chile soup and homemade cherry pie. It used to drive me nuts that we had no traditional holiday food stuffs like my friends. My grandmother used to hold the line when it came to turkey; but other than that, there was no telling what we'd end up eating on the holiday. Anything went--and it still does. Now I appreciate the crazy-quilt approach to celebrating. It's only fitting, after all; our extended family is an odd spiritual mix of atheist, agnostic, pagan, Christian, and Jew. Our holidays are akin to blowing confetti out of a cannon. It's a big mess, but it's our mess and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
So here's to all of us and our big messy beautiful lives! Love and peace and namaste to you all!