There are many ways in which my daughters make me a better person. Many things I look at from a different perspective. Things that I appreciate more than I did in the past. More positivity in my life and my outlook.
I’m still a Christmas grinch.
Yes, the magical wonder in a young child’s eyes is wonderful to watch. Alaina started getting excited for Christmas months ago. She loves the pretty lights that are popping up everywhere, the decorations that she helped put up around the house. The first thing she does upon awakening now is to plug in our tree.
Here’s what else gets her excited: everything.
Here’s what doesn’t excite me: Two months devoted to a single holiday. I understand that almost 20% of retail sales in this country happen during the holiday season and can see the benefits of trying to stretch that beyond three weeks in December. This morning I went to the store to buy milk, razors, cheese and Hello Kitty boots ( not for me ) and it took me forty five minutes to check out. That’s still less annoying than seeing Christmas displays up next to the Halloween ones.
I also don’t get excited about hearing the same songs over and over. There are maybe twenty different Christmas songs that get played over the holidays. If I hear them three times a day for thirty days, that’s 1800 plays. I’m forty-one years old. That means I’ve now heard those songs 73,800 times. My math may be fuzzy, but somebody needs to come up with new music, not just different versions of the same songs.
The same thing goes for television. Elf was a nice addition to Christmas traditions, and I’ll admit that I like A Christmas Story as much as the next guy, but I don’t need to have it be on every channel for the duration of December.
Maybe I’m just a cynic, tired of over-commercialization. Maybe I’m afraid that by the time Christmas Day actually gets here my kid will have had weeks to get over her excitement. Maybe my heart is just three sizes too small.
Here’s the thing about magic: If it doesn’t stay fresh and new it risks becoming commonplace. It loses its appeal.
I’m looking forward to Christmas. The night before my wife and I will partake in some eggnog as we wrap the presents and the little one will lose her mind Christmas morning.
After seven weeks of it being all-consuming I’ll be glad when it’s over.
And that kind of sucks.
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This post was previously published on thirstydaddy.com.
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Photo credit: Jeremy Barnes(Author)
