Christmas coming earlier each year isn't a new thing. For decades now, it seems that most of the fall is dedicated to Christmas sales and advertising. It starts with drugstores and big-box stores donning Santa decorations and wrapping paper in September. Somehow it still flabbergasts people, myself included.
With the exception of my early childhood and later my own children's childhood, I have never been a "Christmas" person. In my early twenties, when I was living by myself in a one bedroom apartment, I never put up any Christmas decorations. It seemed like too much work just for my eyeballs. I always enjoyed the holidays and its accompanying stress ending more than I enjoyed the whole season beginning.
When my kids were little, I fancied up the house with Yuletide accessories. Plus, having little kids makes it fun. They are 100% invested in all of the Christmas lore. My cold heart warmed up for the years that I played Santa. It was fun to decorate the house with little kids as helpers, but there was still a feeling of calm (and a little sadness) when it was all over and the regular decorations came out.
Then we got kittens a few years ago and Christmas became mass chaos. We adopted a pair of 3 month old baby cats in June of 2020 (pandemic pets), so just 6 months later when Christmas came around, they were still ornery little kitties who constantly climbed up and knocked over the tree. We tried everything to keep that tree upright, bubble wrap on the floor, putting orange peels all around the tree, locking the cats up in a different room unless they were supervised near the tree. Nothing really worked. That year the tree was more of a struggle than a symbol of holiday cheer.
The next year, I tried to outsmart the still young cats, I only put the tree up for a week and it was no frills. I didn't put lights or bulbs on the trees. Just the homemade paper ornaments that my kids had made in their preschool and elementary school years and a little bit of garland.
This year the cats grew in numbers. My husband rescued two insane kittens that makes the original cats look like Mr. Rogers on valium. I have no idea how I am going to handle Christmas 2022. I may just put one of those outside festive projectors inside, but these new cats (who are now enormous) will probably try to break down our walls. I having a feeling that our Christmas may consist of a few small decorations before the psychotic animals discover the wrapping paper and eat that too.
How long is your holiday window? Had it varied through your life? What is your favorite part of the season? Leave answers in the comments and enjoy the season!
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