It's that time of year....people's thoughts are heading towards Christmas. I myself have started shopping, because it feels good to be ahead instead of behind the eight-ball. I'm placing an order for Christmas cards today, want to get the jump on them this year because of the address change. We've got big plans to actually GO through all of the holiday decorations this year and let go of some of them, thus making room for new ones.
I love Christmas. The decorations, getting Christmas cards, seeing the kids open presents on Christmas morning, cooking all sorts of goodies that we don't have during the year, etc etc etc. There's a little bit of Grinch in me, though, and I know that a small piece lives in everyone. So, to get it out of the way early and to get it off my chest....here is a list of things that irritate me about Christmas.
1. The biggest one: The ELF ON THE SHELF. When it first came out, it was kind of a cute idea. You get this creepy-ish looking elf and you sit it on a shelf. You tell your kids that the elf is there on Santa's request, reporting their behavior to him daily. Now, thanks to sites like Pinterest, it's become the Overachiever Activity of the Year, replacing handmade Valentines for your kids' whole class and huge fanfare over St. Patrick's Day with "leprachaun traps" and gold pieces, etc. It starts with having to make the elf do different things every day for your child to "discover." There are actual CALENDARS that you can download for a different activity every day, and why is it that the damn thing is supposed to be doing something messy or naughty? Don't parents have enough messes to clean up? I also feel like this is a setup for failure, because with how busy this time of year is, besides regular everyday stuff, there is a good chance that one will forget to move the elf every day and then the kids will think that they did something wrong. And, AND! I actually saw one site that had printable templates of notices that the Elf leaves your child when they've committed some infraction behavior-wise. WHAT?? Ok, rant over. Perhaps this is the "grinch-iest" thing about me yet. But I've got to believe that I'm not alone in this thought.
2. The cost of Christmas cards. Since having children, I've enjoyed getting photo cards of the kids to send out to my Christmas card list. I've got a pretty lengthy list, despite going over it every year and making a cut or two. I haven't yet been able to order cards for less than fifty bucks. This isn't including return address labels or actual postage costs. I do like the convenience though, pop the photo card in the envelope, address and stamp, then mail. Going back to writing out cards....no.
3. Stores starting their holiday displays in September. Christmas Candy in the grocery aisle on October 15th. Yet, when you run to the grocery store on Christmas Eve because you are making cookies and need red and green sprinkles because you ran out and they're nowhere to be found because they're currently stocking VALENTINES.......that really ticks me off. (this really happened one year. Not even a clearance area....augh!)
I've thought and thought, and I can't come up with any other things that truly irk me about the Holiday Season. Christmas music....I love it when it first comes out but by the end I am quite ready to see it go. I think just about everyone else feels that way about it, too. So the list was a lot shorter than I thought! I reserve the right to revisit the list in January. :)
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