‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse – or mummy! You see, it is not even December, let alone Christmas and the race to start preparations for the one most festive day of the year – are on. Stores are lining up Christmas decorations, hanging the tinsel and lighting up their trees with Christmas lights.
Now it makes no difference that Halloween hasn’t even arrived, Christmas is well and truly here. I will be the first to admit that right now, it all feels too much. I’ve written my Christmas list and managed to buy a few presents. But the rest of the Christmas preparations feel so overwhelming. It always feels this way for me. As the year comes to an end, I look forward to carefree summer holidays, no work commitments, no school commitments. I just want the lazy long days catching up with friends and unwinding from the long hours and troubles of the past year. The last thing I want to jolt that image is the crazy Christmas madness that seems to inevitably descend every year.
But the moment I start to dread Christmas, something else seems to kick in stopping me in my Grinch filled tracks: guilt. My family has always loved Christmas. My parents would go to all lengths to decorate the house with Christmas decorations and Christmas lights. My Dad and the extent of his Christmas lights would put the Griswold’s to shame. My boys adore Christmas. I see how their eyes light up as we walk past the displays in the stores. I see the excitement in their faces as they speak with their grandparents talking about presents that Santa will be giving this year. I see their disappointment when I scold and tell them that it is too early to talk about Christmas.
So (deep breathe) I am going to try and not be a Grinch this year. I am going to try and celebrate the joy that is Christmas and the fun that comes with it, even if it is still October. While I cannot trapeze over my house hanging Christmas lights, we have a Santa and a Merry Christmas sign ready to hang in our balcony to share the Christmas spirit with our neighbourhood. Super easy and the boys are already excited that we get to join in the string of Christmas lights that adorn our little community each year. I’m going to try and not whinge that it takes so much time to put up the tree and that it causes so much mess. And I will buy new lights to replace the ones that no longer work, so the tree lights up this year, instead of looking so sad and so dim.
I try and see so much of the world through the eyes of my boys, yet it all shuts down when it comes to Christmas. But it doesn’t need to. If anything, seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child is probably the only way we should ever look at Christmas. There is a sense of magic and wonder that children feel about Christmas that escapes most adults. Perhaps stringing up some Christmas lights and laying out some decorations can open the door a little so that this year a little magic starts to weave in.
Do you cover your house in Christmas lights?
Is October too early to start preparing for Christmas?
Disclosure: The Magic of Christmas Lights was written in collaboration with OO.com.au, who have a lowest price guarantee so you get the best deals direct from Australia’s leading online shopping website. All opinions expressed are my own.
