I Hope We Have a Gift-less Christmas (Don't Tell My Kids)
I Hope We Have a Gift-less Christmas (Don't Tell My Kids)
Turns out, in Portland, the joke is on us. That, and about a foot of snow.
Last week the local news weather types cried wolf for days and with every flurry we were sure Arctic Blast '08 was bearing its abominable teeth. And we, in our fair city of three snow plows, responded by closing everything. On one of my kids' snow days it didn't even snow.
By Friday, everyone knew the hype was nothing, but the week was already a wash, so no point in having school or doing anything else really. On Friday, the whole week seemed like a nice excuse to slow down and take a couple lazy at home days before revving up for the holidays.
Then came Saturday. And it snowed. It snowed and kept on snowing straight through the night and all day Sunday. Biggest snow Portland's seen in 40 years. Suddenly, it was not just an excuse. There was a foot on the ground and we really were housebound.
All the packages full of Christmas gifts from my in-laws are holding on some UPS snow route and they, the in-laws, are due in tonight on Christmas Eve.
I'm secretly hoping they don't make it. The gifts, not the in-laws. My fantasy is the whole family, Sam's, here and hardly a package to open.
The over-the-top-ness of this holiday, not even my holiday, is too much for me. Call me a Grinch, every year I have a little less tolerance for all the stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff.
Like the Grinch, I want to see how they react to Christmas without all the ribbons and bows.
My kids rip into the shiny paper and I see boxes of pieces of stuff that will by spread all over my house by the beginning of January, and swept into the trash by spring.
How can anyone appreciate anything when they have so much crap?
None of these things are special. They are just more. What my kids know is if they break or lose something, it's okay, there's more in the closet and another one coming.
So I'm hoping, please, that the packages are delayed for another day or two. Because I know Sam's family will react with good cheer, and the quiet Christmas will be the best ever.
When all is said and done, and all the toys long forgotten, the white Christmas without presents will be the one my kids remember best.
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