A kid's Christmas

This week's post was going to be about decluttering, but we will have to wait until next week, or maybe the next, to see what I have to say about that.

After texting with a childhood friend the other day, I realized we could all probably use a good dose of the way Christmas used to be when we were kids.

"Let's try to relax and enjoy December the way we did when we were young and all the stress and hustle bustle didn't really affect us at all. Here's to being a kid again!" I wrote after we had exchanged a few texts about some of the challenges we are facing.

I think I have become a little preoccupied with all the things that "need" to be done before December 25, and also with the changes that inevitably come as the years go by. A thread of wanting to make this Christmas really special has been weaving its way through my mind since before Thanksgiving. I think I need to remind myself that Christmas is special, not because of anything I do or don't do, but because Jesus came to earth as a baby and made a way for us to be with Him now and forever.

I started asking myself what December was like when I was little, and I'm still thinking a lot about that. The most stressful (though I didn't have that word in my vocabulary back then) thing was learning my lines for the church Christmas play and hoping I would do okay in the performance. Even that wasn't a very big deal because each play part was very small, usually suited to our age at the time, and Dorothy Jean would be sitting on the front pew ready to help us if we got scared or forgot our lines.

Buying or making gifts for people wasn't stressful. It was fun. I learned early in life the pure pleasure of giving a gift. We grew up with the example of Mom often picking something up from the store to take to someone, so of course Christmas was a time when she gave many gifts to others. What a delight to walk through the old Leggett store at Gables looking for just the right gift for a teacher, friend or family member.

The decorations back then weren't nearly as elaborate as they are these days, but their impact was greater somehow. The big old-fashioned Christmas bulbs on trees and around doorways were not elegant like the glistening white lights of today, but they were so magical. Christmas trees weren't perfectly decorated with matching ornaments. Red and green chains made from construction paper or popcorn strung on lengths of heavy thread and homemade ornaments adorned the trees along with, a sometimes way too heavy-handed, array of silver tinsel.

Clara, Kim, and Pee Wee

The food wasn't Southern Living worthy, but it was delicious and extra special because it truly was made with love not with a desire to impress. There wasn't an endless selection of cookies and candy, but I'd take what was there over the beautiful offerings of today.

We didn't expect toys from Santa that cost hundreds of dollars and we didn't expect piles and piles of gifts. Our Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, Light Brights, Easy Bake Ovens, Etch A Sketches, dolls, and stuffed animals brought months, even years of entertainment and delight. We weren't always looking for the next better thing. We enjoyed what we had.

Deidra on Christmas morning

I guess Christmas has always been about God's love and that He sent "His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." All the rest really should, in some small way, honor and echo that love.

Let's look for the simple pleasures and focus on the Big meaning of Christmas this year.