Holidays

I love holidays...most of the time. At Christmas I love the excitement in my kids, and myself. I love the food, the conversations, and the time to get reacquainted with family and friends. I enjoy having the time to do things with my kids, like see a movie, go to the mall, have a snowball fight, go sledding, etc. I have always loved Christmas but I guess I am growing up because the same things that excited me even ten years ago don't even get a second thought from me now. Instead of me worrying about how much fun I am going to have over Christmas break I find myself worrying about how much the rest of my family is going to enjoy the holidays. I guess that is part of being a dad.

Of course with the good comes the bad. I find myself a little more stressed around the holidays. The house has to be clean for company. We have to move people around to get the proper sleeping arrangements. We have to attend all the Christmas programs and festivities. We have to feed family, usually with some extravagant meal, and disrupt our daily routines so that we can get together with our extended family and make sure they are taken care of. Sometimes we have to travel long distances to family's homes with large amounts of Christmas gifts and extra luggage. Loading and unloading...that's fun! I guess what I am saying is that I am getting old and set in my ways. My wife and I love to be home and spend time with our kids, living our own routine. I still love holiday time but have realized that there is a lot of work to enjoying the holidays. I guess in the end all the work is worth it, although sometimes we seem to be so busy that we don't have time stop and enjoy what the holidays are about.

Sincerely,
Ebeneezer Scrooge... :)