Ho Ho Hum

Why do I feel like I am committing an act of child abuse by not stringing my house full of Christmas lights, garland and bows this year? I don’t even have a Christmas tree, and even lack a plan or the desire to procure one. I am just not doing the Christmas thing this year. No decorations, no tree, no shopping. I’m out for the first time in my life.

And aside from feeling guilty about robbing my daughter of the whole “Santa came let’s open a bunch of stuff” thing, I don’t regret it one bit. I listened to my coworkers talk about how much of their weekend was devoted to shopping and fighting the crowds and spending vast amounts of money on things no one will care about in two months and how stressed out they were about how much was yet to be done, and I leaned back in my chair, relaxed with no holiday stress, no holiday worries.

Besides, Audrey doesn’t seem to have noticed the absence of a tree. And what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, right? But still a part of me feels like I am ruining her childhood, depriving her of proper Christmas memories.

Do you feel obligated to celebrate Christmas or the other seasonal holidays while wishing you could just step away, or is it your favorite time of the year and you welcome the madness?