It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 Advertisers want you to believe this is the most wonderful time of the year. That everyone is happy, smiling, and singing carols as they shop with no thoughts of price tags. As carols play happily in the background, we bake gingerbread cookies and baste turkeys, all while the entire family looks on with anticipation, joy, and love. I'm not trained in advertising, but what a crock that is! Let's be honest about the holiday season, rather than the "Hallmark moment" they are trying so hard to sell us.

  For at least 90% of us, cost matters. A lot! The $18 turkey we had last year is now $25. The potatoes, veggies and desserts are up too. Those nuts you only buy at Christmas? They might have doubled in price. And you aren't just buying for this one meal. You are adding on to your regular groceries. You could easily be looking at an extra hundred dollars, and that's on the conservative end. 

  Now that you've overspent on groceries, let's bring out the "wish list". Even if the list is shorter than last year, chances are it's still going to cost more. Video games, Lego sets, pajamas, and even Grandad's slippers went up. Sticking to your budget is almost impossible for most of us. We don't want to disappoint anyone, so out comes the Visa to save the day. Creating a whole new set of problems come January.

  Finances aside, let's not pretend the holiday season, spent with extended family, is without drama. There is always one who is too conservative that sits on the sofa next to the liberal. Someone always drinks too much and brings up "family secrets" at the dinner table. A child has a meltdown. Grandma criticizes. Tears are shed. A day or two with our nearest and dearest is exhausting! We are not meant to be on our best behavior for that long a time frame. We just aren't!

  While this might be your favorite time of year, keep in mind not everyone feels the same way. People are still ill and have loved ones in hospitals. Someone is standing vigil as a loved one dies or making funeral arrangements for another. It's the one-year, or tenth, anniversary of a death that still hurts. Grandparents cannot remember their own children or the celebrations of the past. It's rough for a lot of us. And while we may put on happy faces and try to enjoy ourselves, many are hurting inside from a pain they can not share. Be extra understanding of them. 

  Wow, it seems as if I've removed every ounce of joy from the holidays! Feel free to call me the Grinch or Scrooge. But I'm not looking for perfection over the next four weeks. Not in presents or food or decorations. Certainly not in conversations, visits, or parties. I'm hoping for a minute or two that becomes a memory, preferably a happy one. One that five years down the road elicits a smile or a laugh when it comes up at another gathering. Where we shake our heads and say "Remember when...". 

  That's what I'm aiming for.

  Ang