Christmas...ba humbug...

It really irritates me to no end to see Chistmas stuff up already. Come on now, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and everywhere I go, it looks like red and green, Santa and his little elves, and silly old reindeer have exploded all over the place. Can I please enjoy my autumn before Santa and his minions take over??

Add that to all the greed that surrounds us and that I deal with at this time of year from certain people, and you can clearly see why Christmas no longer appeals to me. Not really, but that is how I feel today after a night of Christmas shopping for gifts that nobody is going to appreciate anyway. I want to go back to the good ol' days when Christmas was about family and togetherness, not "here's what you're gonna get me" (yes, I have actually had someone tell me that) and Christmas lists a mile long. This Christmas is going to be a little tight this year, as I have one more kiddo to buy for (although she won't know the difference) and I am still on maternity leave from work. If I am scaling back on my own kids gifts, then why should I spend a bunch of money for other people to have a better Christmas than my own children? Does that even make sense? Sorry I am "scrooging" right now.

I want to go look at lights (closer to the actual day, of course), make cookies and hot chocolate with my kids, decorate our tree while listening to carols, and, most importantly, celebrate and remember the REAL reason for Christmas...Jesus! I want to see the look of joy on my sweet babies faces when experiencing all the good, love, and togetherness that Christmas has to offer. I want to abolish the greed, pettiness and ungrateful attitudes that I know I will be seeing.

*Sigh* I really DO love the Christmas season. I just wish it wasn't so commercialized.