Christmas

Christmas is over now and I'm exhausted. I remember when we were first married and I so looked forward to the decorating and the celebrating and just the whole holiday thing. I still love the whole holiday thing but it's becoming more and more difficult to drag all that stuff out of the attic to decorate every year and I think my age is catching up to me. I wish I had a nice dry basement where I could store all my Christmas containers, or a big closet on the main floor would be nice as well. But no - for us it's a pull-down attic staircase (which should have been replaced years ago with a newer, sturdier one) and an attic packed to the rafters with "stuff" to work around. And while the anticipation of the fun to come makes to set-up tolerable, all that cleaning up and putting away - well - that's another story altogether.

I remember when my father-in-law died, over twenty years ago now, and my mother-in-law was not going to bother putting her tree up the following Christmas. We were horrified! We went to her house and dragged everything down from her attic and put the tree up and decorated it for her. It made us feel better but I'm not sure now that it did anything for her! And then we had to take it all down again in January. At the time I couldn't imagine how she could not want to do the whole Christmas thing. Now it makes all the sense in the world to me. All that work, all alone, and no one to enjoy it with when it's done. Hummm.

I think about downsizing a lot. In fact, this Christmas I gave quite a few things away to my kids for their own decorating pleasure - ornaments, wall hangings, fake greens - but I still have plenty left to pack up again and drag back up those attic stairs.

I'm thinking next year, a little fake tree that sits on the table....(only kidding kids!)

Is it me?

OK - is it just me or are the holidays getting busier every year? I'm so well organized and think I have everything pretty much under control, and still-there is just so much going on!

Perhaps it's simply a result of my age, but I think there are other factors at work here. For instance, for so many years I shopped for my family of four children, our two sets of paretns, and my husband. Now I have, in my immedate family alone, my four grown children, their three spouses, and six grandchildren. And my husband of course, who becomes more difficult to buy for every year.

In the early days we were so poor that it was easy to shop for him - I knew a sport coat or some work clothes would be treasured. Not any more! What he wants, he buys, and then when Christmas comes along what's left to surprise him with? I'll never forget a couple years ago when he came home in October with the exact thing I was going to get him for Christmas. How annoying!

Also, as my children grew and moved on I became more and more involved with other things, all of which come with schedules and demands of their own. So that is added to the mix as well. Oh for the days when I was stuck at home with little ones and had plenty of time to hand make and wrap gifts!

Anyway, I think its more than old age that I'm dealing with here. I think its a heavier work load and a busier schedule. But I guess I can't complain. After all, there's nothing like a big family and lots of activity to make the holidays just perfect...