Thoughts on the holidays - recycled post

Things are sorta busy here....what with the cookie baking, snow shoveling, kid wrangling, snow shoveling and gift wrapping....and did I mention that we're getting a bit of snow....

Since I'm a big believer in recycling....here is a previously written - but still applicable - post about the holiday season. Enjoy, and I promise new content tomorrow.....probably with pictures of snow.

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Well, my friends, Thanksgiving is now safely behind us. I can't say as I'm sorry to see it go either. As I may have mentioned, I have developed a new found loathing for turkey day. As I was mashing the potatoes and trussing the turkey, I got to thinking about my Scrooginess. I determined that, in reality, the average person is set up to fail when it comes to the big holidays. Let me tell you why.

1. The work load - Holidays, be they thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah (I'm actually guessing about the last two, but it seems like a safe assumtion) are a lot of work. As a kid your list of responsibilities pretty much begins and ends will writing a little note to Santa. As you get older you are expected to shop, cook, wrap, decorate....the list goes on. I, for one, an not big into work, so the added load sorta bums me out.
2. The Family - Let's face it, we don't all get along with our families. Even if we do get along with them, you can have too much of a good thing.
   
3. The Expectations - Add to the previous two items, the fact that everything is supposed to be perfect. I mean look at what we have to aspire to, such theatrical gems as "White Christmas", "Holiday Inn", "Christmas in Connecticut", and "Miracle on 42nd Street". I mean are you kidding me?? I can barely get my kids to wear matching socks, and yet I'm expected to break out in song with a choreographed dance number while baking gingerbread men?

So for the above reasons, I propose that holidays are impossible to enjoy. I, for one, intend to combat the over perfectification of Christmas. I will expect to screw it up!! I will accept that my family is going to drive me crazy. I will eschew the singing and dancing cinematic vision of Christmas. Give me realistic christmas fare!! Give me movies where the Chrismas turkey is stollen by rabid dogs, the Christmas tree bursts into flames and houses rabid squirrels, and finally allow the local police to open fire on a mall santa on my front stoop on Christmas Eve!!

Happy Holidays!