What Christmas means to me....

First of all, I would like to apologize to my 3 faithful readers for going so long between postings. I was hoping that when I started this blog that I would be able to come up with something to write about at least once a week. Well, with 4 kids and a husband there is usually some funny story floating around but to be honest with you it is TIME that has been my downfall lately! With Christmas coming the day after Thanksgiving this year I have been on the go constantly! So with all of the political crap that goes with the "Holiday" season, I would like to take this time to tell you what Christmas means to me!
If I were to give a child's account of Christmas using my adult mind it would be something like this...Christmas is like have S_X for the first time with a new boyfriend/girlfriend....(not that I would know now, I have been HAPPILY married for the last 10 years.....maybe the rules have changed!) You wait...anticipate...wonder...by the time the actual time for "opening presents" is upon you, you can hardly stand it! Then you rip and tear your way to the peak of your excitement and then amongst the rabble you wonder to yourself, "That's it? That's all I get?" It doesn't really matter because 10 minutes later you forget the whole thing anyways!
Now that I am an adult Christmas means something different to me. I love the lights and the music and the food and the family gatherings, but I could care less for presents. When I was a kid there were 5 kids and not a lot of money. We had a beautiful tree and plenty to eat every year. Our gifts were usually a hat and pair of mittens or a cool pair of jeans with our initials sewn on the pockets in our favorite color....MADE BY OUR MOM!! We usually didn't get store bought gifts unless we spent Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa. There are 2 Christmases that always come to mind....One was when I was 5 or so we spent Christmas at my grandparents house. I got a baby doll (which I played with until everything fell off) and I remember sitting outside trying to see Santa's sleigh and trying EXTREMELY hard to stay up and catch a glimpse of the big guy himself! I still swear to this day that I saw him in their hallway!!!! My other favorite one was when I got an awesome pair of pajamas from a family friend for tutoring her son and I got a barbie doll in a yellow dress from Santa. That same Christmas my sister got a "Pretty in Pink" barbie doll from Santa and I am pretty sure that we played with them until their arms and legs fell off!
I sometimes wish that Christmas was more simple like in the "olden days". You put up lights, have dinner with family and friends, you have a great time at the yearly Christmas program (Santa always came and gave away candy when I went to country school), you have a blast playing in the snow during Christmas Vacation, you bake or make gifts from the heart, and you are TRULY THANKFUL for everything that receive!!!!
I want to take this time to wish you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! May God bless you and I hope all of your dreams come true in 2009!!!!