Holiday Craze

The curse of the stay at home mom, or any mom for that matter, is the guilt you feel when things don’t pan-out quite as they were supposed to.

Troy’s busy-busy at work! As in go-go-go all the time. If he’s not working he should be and if he is working, he should be working more! Its crazy! Great for profits; not so fab for the burnt-out brain.

But I digress.

We’ve been planning to Christmas shop for the last four or five weekends, but something always came up to mar our plans; Troy working insanely, Emma being sick, etc. Finally, this past weekend we got to go!

Well!

I turned down an invite to a stagette party in order to go Christmas shopping with Troy, Emma and Gavin in tow…it was not to be…

We were welcomed into the Southcentre Shopping Mall parking lot with a traffic jam! But we figured ‘we’re here now’. So instead of high tailing it out of there, we embarked on a fruitless journey.

Inside the mall it wasn’t too bad…or so I thought until I went to stand in line at Indigo Bookstore…there were 40 to 50 people standing in line awaiting their turn to hand over hard earned money for overpriced books!

That’s when I decided to admit defeat; it doesn’t take me long to not stress myself out. I’m in no way a martyr. If something isn’t important, as most little details aren’t, I forget about them.

I like things to be nice, organized, and pretty just as much as the next person – but I’m not going to cause myself undue stress to achieve them.

So, instead of having lots ‘o gifts under the tree, Emma and Gavin will only have a few and a stocking each.

At first I was appalled at the situation and then I began rethinking why I was appalled. There is no reason for it.

I had planned to complete the Christmas shopping in October while waiting for Gavin to arrive. Gavin arrived two weeks early. Then I had four weeks recovery time for the c-section required to introduce Gav-Gav to the world. That brings us to November 15th. Then Gavin and I both had doctor appointments. Then we had a cold spell and we didn’t venture from the house at all. Then Emma got sick with the croup. More doctor appointments for all of us, and then a traffic jam. So voila!

As a new mom, struggling with sleep deprivation, I think I’ve done rather well with what we have.

We’re going to have a beautifully cooked Christmas dinner. The kids will have gifts upon gifts anyway, thanks to far-flung family and friends, and we’ll have memories. What more can you ask for?

The Christmas Season isn’t about who gets what or how much. In a world where we usually only think about others at Christmas time, I’d rather Emma and Gavin not have gifts but see me every grocery day purchase non-perishable items for the food bank.

Yes, kids should have gifts, but not to the extent that most families do it. Families go further and further into debt to give the hottest this or that to their loved ones. Shouldn’t children learn its better to give than to receive?

Instead of the newest of new, why not buy mittens for the homeless or bring cookies to the kids in hospital – and bring your children along. Make it a family tradition to help those in need!

Lots of folks, children included, would do anything to have a warm coat, let alone the newest design for the 2007 season.

There are plenty of ways you and yours can give back this Holiday Season as well as throughout the year:

Volunteer - www.volunteer.ca
Food Donation - www.cafb-acba.ca
Clothing and No Longer Used Items Donation - www.diabetes.ca/Section_services/collection.asp
Money Donation - www.canadian-charities.com/charityentry.html
Knit A Block - www.blankets4canada.ca

Its easy to forget what Christmas is really about – generosity of spirit.

Don’t get lost in the Holiday Craze Maze! Make this Holiday Season a bit brighter for someone else and teach your children to do the same.

Thanks for reading!
PS: Check back in January for a post on the subject of Tithing. Find out how helping others can help you…