It has been a day full of whining and crying at my house.
I’ve felt exasperated. Not sure if it’s due to his asthma or what, but I think my husband nailed it on the head. Halloween is freaking my 3 1/2 year-old out.
We have a 2 year-old as well and for a week she’s been saying, “I want Halloween.” I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know what it is but it’s big and looming in her mind as well as my 3 year-old’s mind.
When my oldest was in pre-school, he went to a school that didn’t celebrate holidays. It was very low key that way. If the kids started talking about how they were noticing pumpkins the school might walk the kids over to Trader Joe’s and buy some pumpkins.
My husband and I have no family in LA so our holidays are very quiet and I like them that way. The first Christmas we bought our child nothing. Call us assholes but it was quite nice and easy. He does have two sets of very doting grandparents who love to give presents BTW.
But slowly, by adding a few more kids and really trying to incorporate Chanukah and Christmas traditions onto our family, the stress of buying presents and trying to avoid holiday stress has become, stressful.
I’m determined to not let this happen again this year.
My husband and I just came up with a game plan this Monday.
Since Chanukah and Thanksgiving overlap we will just give presents on the first and last night. The grandparents can give a gift on the first night and us the last night. We might go camping. The end.
For Christmas, one present each. Maybe two but that’s it, again, the end. Think we’ll go on a hike that day as well.
“Where are all your decorations?” My mom has asked before.
Putting them up stressed me out, taking them down is just more work.
I put up a tree, a menorah and some artwork from the kids and that’s about it. I don’t think that the more decorations one puts up equates a better chance of getting into heaven.
When I was younger I loved the holidays because we had larger family get-togethers. You could divide and conquer. I’d play with my cousins, the women would cook and I don’t know what the men did but it was great.
I have learned though to stop beating myself up because I do not have a traditional holiday. It might be 75 on Christmas, there will be no snow, more then likely. We don’t have family around.
So instead I’m just going to make it our own and call up some friends who might also be having un-traditional holidays and invite them to meet in a park for some shared egg nog.
I’m not sure.
I’m not going to make too many plans, put up too many decorations or buy too many presents.
Maybe I’m a scrooge.
But what I really want is a more peaceful me and a more peaceful home.
