Christmas Time Is Here Again

As the holidays are approaching and I have finished all of my Christmas shopping, I'd thought I'd reflect on my favorite things that the season brings. No time of year is quite as wonderful as this one. The only way for it to be any better was if it could snow in South Georgia. I suppose there's a small chance.

- “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” - Though this song is usually connected to its most popular version sung by Judy Garland, I have always preferred Frank Sinatra’s version (and no, not just because I’m a big Frank fan). Maybe it’s the way he sings the first lyric without instrumentals or, perhaps, it’s the way he makes the happy song still seem a little sad. I don’t know exactly why, but hearing it my heart ache for the holidays and my eyes water. For me it truly embodies this time of year - people are never quite as lovely as they are around Christmas. It’s around Christmas that things become a lot simpler and life seems to just be better. And those are the things this song reminds me of.

- Midnight Mass - Is there anything as beautiful as a room full of faces lit by soft candlelight singing “What Child Is This”?

- Buying and Giving Gifts - So many people say that they love to give gifts, but hate to buy them. And though I might get frustrated at times, I still love to do both. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as figuring out the perfect gift and then giving it. Getting presents is nice too, but it doesn't come close to the feeling I get when I give them.

- Wrapping - I have always loved to make pretty packages and at Christmas it’s much easier than at other times in the year. There’s more choices of paper and bows and tags. I like it so much that I actual volunteer to wrap their people’s presents.

- “A Christmas Story” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” - Two movies that had lukewarm receptions when they were first released are now two of the most watched movies around Christmas time. “Randy lay there like a slug it was his only defense” is as funny as the “Buffalo Girls” scene is touching. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bill Murray, Frosty and Rudolph are great, but I still would rather spend the holidays with Ralphie and George. Ecept maybe...

-”It’s Christmas, Charlie Brown” - Is anything as sweet as that small tree decorated with lights and tinsel? And if the sight of that tree isn’t enough to make you cry, there’s always “Christmas Time is Here.”

- Waking Up Christmas Morning - My sister and I have had a long tradition to get up as early as possible on the 25th to open our stockings, wake up our parents and call our grandparents to the house. As we have gotten older, the tradition hasn’t stopped; we’re still filled with the same excitement. And while last year we slept in until seven, we were still the first ones up.

- Christmas Silliness - My sister and I aren’t the only ones made giddy by the holiday. Every Christmas my father gets funnier and funnier. Last year he took the “Where the Wild Things Are” puppet he gave my mother for a stocking stuffer and proceeded to put a show for the entirety of the gift opening. The puppet commented on how my sister and it had identical hairdos while offering to massage my mother’s feet with it’s mouth. Though no one can make us all laugh like my father, my grandfather tries by seeing exactly how many bows he can stick to his bald head.

- “...And then she threw up.” - No Christmas would be complete without the retelling of the unfortunate year where I was so sick I threw up on my father almost right after I opened my Fisher Price Kitchen set. A tale that is closely followed by the story of the preschool Christmas concert where they teachers wouldn’t let the three-year-old go to the bathroom before the concert, so she had an accident right as we reached the toilet after the concert was over. My mom vowed never to let me wear tights after that night.

- The Opening of the PJs - A Christmas Eve tradition where my mom gives herself, my father, my sister and I new pajamas to wear that night to bed.

- The Passing Out of the Gifts - After we are all assembled in our usual seating arrangements (my sister, father and I on the floor, my mother and grandmother on the couch and my grandfather in the armchair), my dad picks up a gift, calls the name of the recipient and my sister and I deliver them.

- Christmas with Games - After the presents are all opened and my mother and grandmother have started on dinner, my sister and I skip westerns and football games and opt instead to play video games - which we play until my grandmother finishes and calls us down to play the card game Skip-Bo.

- Choosing and Decorating the Tree- It’s not just the smell that makes me love0 live Christmas trees, it’s the way they looks. Fake trees just don’t look the same. We choose a tree from the farm, cut it down and bring it home. My mother puts on the lights, while I drape on all the ornaments that I can without having to use a step-stool. She finishes with the rest and our tree is made perfect. All ornaments are different and meaningful. Though there are definitely more trees out there whose ornaments match better, not many can boast a homemade, antique silk screened bird like the one my mother made my father on their first Christmas together.