Tis the Season

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It's officially the Christmas season now.

In direct contrast to my last post, now that it's December I've fully embraced the Christmas preparation. 90% of it though, is trying to decide what gifts to get everyone. Hubby is notoriously hard to shop for. He likely feels the same way about me. And honestly this year I didn't even know what to ask for.

I've got everything I want at the moment. A warm home, a loving husband, a few kids, a baby on the way, plenty of food. All I really want is a job I can do from my home- and I'll start working remotely as part of my maternity leave in January.

I told my mom to get me wool socks (my go-to request for 6 years in a row now). I told Hubby I wanted an exercise birthing ball (which I was planning to buy regardless by the end of the year). There's really nothing I badly want that can be wrapped in gift paper.

I've never been this content in my adult life and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Tis the Season, Christmas


Being this content has made the effort to bring a smile to all my loved-ones faces incredibly fun. I've spent a lot of time in the past two weeks hunting down the perfect gifts for my pre-teen stepdaughter and elementary-aged stepson. I try to find a good mix of things that are useful, educational, and not screen-time related in addition to the one item they really, really want. And like my mom before me, I always throw in some clothes they need that I would have bought them anyway soon (pjs and long pants this year). There's also books I hope they will find interesting, and stocking stuffers like gloves and pencils.

Our pre-teen knows Santa isn't real anymore. She let us know last Christmas that she had figured it out, but she plays along pretty well for her little brother. I think we have maybe a couple more Christmases before he's quietly telling us he doesn't believe anymore either.

As such, Santa has cut back considerably on what appears under the tree. The first year I was with their father, Santa had delivered several items for each of them. Last year it was only a couple. This year the only items under the tree from Santa are the brand new snowshoes we got for the whole family.

Christmas snowshoes, Merry Christmas


I'm very thrilled about the snowshoes. Hubby bought me a pair awhile back but the kids haven't had ones that fit them in several years. They've both long ago out-grown the weight limit on their kid sized ones. Hubby's snowshoes are being held together with duct tape, and so I decided everyone (except myself) was going to get nice new ones. I'm re-wrapping my own to gift back to myself as Santa so we all get to open a pair on Christmas Day.

This year Santa is bringing us a family outdoor adventure. I'm also looking forward to this because it's something I can do while pregnant. Winter hasn't been much fun this year since I'm not allowed to ski or skate and have to be extra careful walking on slick surfaces. Going anywhere or being outdoors has not been all that fun lately. So an activity I can actually do to beat some of the winter blues is pretty exciting.

Avoiding winter blues is probably why Christmas traditions are so heartily embraced.


We went to the Christmas in Calumet tree lighting ceremony on Friday. It was cold, and dark, and Hubby was annoyed that he couldn't find a good reason "why" we were doing the activity at all. I don't think I successfully explained it to him but I'll attempt to explain it to all of you.

Christmas in Calumet, Calumet Theatre


Christmas falls during the same time of year as the winter solstice. It's the shortest days and darkest time of the year. And during this darkest and coldest time of year, we celebrate our warmest wishes holiday with the most twinkling lights. My theory: A good portion of our celebratory events are to offset the dark and lonely time of year this would be without it.

There's the religious aspect too, but not everyone is religious or Christian. The tree lighting is cloaked in Christmas, and sure, most of our town is Christian in religious views, but the crowd cheering as the lights come on does not have anything to do with baby Jesus. It has everything to do with the warm glow given off by the little lights breaking through the dark. The little glimmer of hope and love.

I love twinkle lights, and my house has significantly more than Hubby deems necessary. But it's not about them being necessary, it's about them being beautiful. Christmas for me is about the childhood belief in hope and magic, and somewhere Hubby lost that perspective. It's fading for him again as his children get too old to believe in Santa anymore. But soon we'll have a new baby to welcome and share the magic of Santa with- and Hubby will be able to recall again those moments in his own childhood where the world had all the potential possible.

We celebrate the holiday season each year to hang on to that little bit of magic.


To quote some song lyrics:

"Keep Christmas with you, all through the year. When Christmas is over, save some Christmas cheer. These precious moments, hold them very dear. And keep Christmas with you, all through the year."

Until next time,
Emma Leigh


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