Really? Do I have to take them down?

Considering that "the holidays" have officially been over for 8 days now, I guess I need to come to terms with it.  I know that some people take their decorations down the day after Christmas, but mine are still up....every single one!  I don't even have the excuse of putting them up late and thus, keeping them up late.  Mine went up right after Thanksgiving!  

I have to wonder why it is that I'm clinging to the holidays so much this year.  Sure, part of it is just not wanting to do the work to take it all down and put it all away.  It's so much more fun to put it up!  But, I also think that it might be somewhat because this was a bit of a breakthrough year for me.  For the first time in a very long time, I sat in church on Christmas Eve and found myself feeling happy.  Truly happy.   

In the past, the holidays have been fairly difficult for me, just like I know they are for some of you and many others.  It's supposed to be a time full of joy and cheer, but reality is that we all have "stuff" in our lives and for whatever reason, the holidays tend to bring out those imperfections and amplify them.  We all have this idea of how Christmas should be and how we should feel and how it should go and when reality sets in and it's not that way...well, it can be disappointing.  It's kind of like the movies.  How many times have you gone to a movie that you've heard NOTHING about, haven't even seen a preview for and been completely blown away because you had zero expectations?  It's the best!  Now...how many times have you gone to a movie for which you've seen the previews 25 times, read the critics reviews, read the book and heard from all of your friends how wonderful it is.  Then you go and see it and your expectations are so high that you walk out feeling completely disappointed.  I think the holidays can be the same way...we all set ourselves up with hopes to have the "perfect" Christmas and then more often then not, it goes a little something like this:

We want to find the perfect gifts (and no, I won't buy you the gift right off of your list because I want to be creative.  Crap, now it's Christmas Eve and I guess that THIS weird random thing will do since the thing on your list was half the price on Black Friday and now I just can't spend that much.  Or maybe I'll do a gift card, but that's just so impersonal.  Nope...weird random thing it is.  That's way better than you picking out something that you actually WANT...like the thing on your list!).

We want to celebrate and create the perfect traditions (Let's play board games!  Don't cry because you lost...stop fighting about who gets to be the boot and who get's to be the thimble!  We will bake and decorate cookies and we will have fun doing it!  Kids....don't make such a mess and stop eating frosting! We HAVE to do this thing that we all hate, but it's tradition and we NEED to have traditions!  All happy families have traditions!).

We want the perfect Christmas card (Put on this red sweater you never wear, let me do your hair, it doesn't matter if it hurts, you just need to smile.  If you don't smile then Santa won't come. EVERYONE LOOK HAPPY!!!  Nope...that's not cute, we don't look happy.  Why do I have addresses in 25 different places?  I'm out of stamps.  It won't even get there until after Christmas...now what's the point?)  

We want the perfect tree (no kids, let's not put on the handmade ornaments from 5 years ago, let's do a theme.  Did you see the trees at Festival of Trees?  I want one like that and then I don't want you to touch it! Too bad we have to worry about little Suzy eating the tinsel because having the bottom third of the tree naked looks awful!  This candle that smells like fir just isn't the same.  Wait..we should go to the forest and GET a tree.  Why does our tree from the forest have bare patches...and why can't it be perfectly symmetrical?  We should have just put up the fake tree.)

We want to cook the perfect meal (of course I burned it, I haven't used my oven YET this year.  I don't care if you don't like that dish, it's tradition.  I shouldn't eat so much, but please pass the sweet potatoes covered in butter, sugar and marshmallows.  Ugh, why do I feel so sick and riddled with guilt?!  Good thing the New Year is right around the corner.)  

We want the perfect family time (Just pretend that Uncle Jim didn't just get out of prison.  Why does she have to DO that and SAY that?  Please pass the wine.  We haven't talked to them since last Christmas, but we SHOULD invite them over.  We need more wine.  Do I really have to wear this sweater?  But it's tradition...and we're family...so we HAVE to spend the holidays together!)  

Obviously this is a complete exaggeration...at least it is for me...and I hope it is for you!  But you get the point. 

I received so many amazing gifts (some of which were on my list...some of which were not), celebrated our awesome family traditions (including Santa Lucia, eating herring and drinking aquavit, and a new one of singing Christmas carols), ended up with a cute Christmas card (thanks to Heidi's photography) and got them out on time, have a beautiful tree (with a mixture of homemade and store bought ornaments), enjoyed several perfect meals (although my contributions were minimal) and most of all, enjoyed the family time so very much.  And, Christmas Eve I didn't have Hailee, but shared it with friends and had a wonderful time!  

All in all, I can say that the holidays this year were all that I could have hoped for.  Is my life perfect?  Absolutely not.  But it's all in what you make of it...and I finally figured out this year how to make the best of it!  Now, I GUESS, it's probably time to put it away...