Christmas is a Week from Today, and I Haven’t Decorated a Thing

I’m not going to either

Most people who know me personally will tell you that I don’t exactly ooze holiday cheer and festivity. Besides my penchant for wearing black, I often seem to be in a somber mood. That’s just the way I’ve been since I can remember. It’s not my desire to be a buzzkill, but I often radiate a certain Wednesday Addams vibe. My décor choices don’t run to bright red and green with blinking lights.

Fortunately, my husband handles the Christmas cheer for both of us. As soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are packed into Tupperware, he carries boxes and boxes of ornaments in from the garage and down from the attic. The house quickly becomes filled with cardboard boxes and newspapers that previously wrapped fragile items.

With a wink of his twinkling eye, and a whole lot of sweat, he swaths the house in garland, faux snow, and smiling Santas. It’s impossible to resist the festive spirit that permeates the house. He is like my own personal version of Buddy the Elf, swatting away the dark clouds of my seasonal depression with a candy cane turned into a weapon.

The ugly beast of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) has gripped me by the throat every winter for as long as I can remember. As the days grow gloomier and the nights grow longer, my mood follows suit. Without his gentle nudges to get up and enjoy the season, I might spend the entire winter hiding under the covers with a book, my dog, and a cup of tea.

My memories of Christmas past, especially when I was a child, were not exceptionally merry and bright. We were poor and gifts were a strain on our already paper-thin budget. Sometimes we qualified for a gift basket from the Salvation Army, and once or twice we received gift certificates for the grocery store and K-mart. I still remember finding an orange stuffed into the toe of my stocking like it was a brick of gold, and I don’t even like oranges.

Of course, no holiday season was complete without at least one fistfight among the adults. My mother and her mother, Nana, were the two adults most likely to engage in conflict, but sometimes my uncle who lived in the apartment upstairs would get involved. I knew better than to venture anywhere near that mess.

The most common cause of violence was decorating the Christmas Tree. No matter how carefully we packed away the strings of lights at the end of the season, they managed to twist themselves up into a mass that resembled dozens of skinny snakes mating. Untangling the lights could lead to violence. I learned it was best to avoid the entire tree decorating task completely, allowing the adults to duke it out over the ideal placement for each ornament.

The one bright spot of my childhood holiday memories was Nana, my mother’s mother, and her cooking and baking. She made these mincemeat turnovers, from home-canned mincemeat, which were amazing. I still remember those little sweet and savory pastries. Too bad I don’t have the skills to reproduce them.

Tree-based violence is no longer a threat, but I still harbor an avoidance toward trimming it. My husband takes over the task and creates a gorgeous tree, on par with the rest of his home décor. Enjoy these pictures of his fabulous holiday display!

The fireplace trimmed with wreath and stocking hung by the fire with care in hopes that St. Nick soon will be there.

The little Christmas village that moves into the bookcase every December.

The little tree that decorated my hospital room when I had to wait for a heart transplant over the holidays. It's our second tree now.

A self-portrait my father carved many years ago. It stays atop the armoire in the family room but gets festive with a Santa hat for the holidays.

I’m not utterly useless during the holiday season. Much like Nana, my strength lies in the kitchen. Decorative towels, potholders, and cookie jars bring a touch of the season. Of course, I must bake to fill the cookie jars. I produce Christmas cookies cut out in shapes and slathered with buttercream frosting, using the same recipe that Nana used fifty years ago. I have not mastered mincemeat, but cookies are firmly within my wheelhouse. This coming weekend is my designated baking time. I hope I have the necessary energy as I’m still recovering from whatever bug laid me low for Thanksgiving.

See, I can decorate! Festive potholders and a throw blanket for a makeshift curtain over my writing desk.

I clearly know how to decorate cookies, and that's what's really important!

Christmas shopping is also entirely within my domain. I truly enjoy selecting the perfect gift for each recipient and spend a good amount of time searching for just the right thing. Gift wrapping is also my job. Although the end result of my wrapping efforts often looks like I wore both a blindfold and oven mitts when I wrapped them, I’m still the main gift wrapper in our house.

In this way, my husband and I are perfectly paired as he enjoys the decorating and I enjoy the baking, shopping and wrapping involved in the holiday. If only one of us enjoyed scrubbing the floors and cleaning the bathroom before our guests arrived. (I’m ignoring the bucket and mop as I write this.)

Regardless of the decorated trees and walls and the scrubbed or unscrubbed floors, the number one focus of our celebration is being with the ones we love. Whether or not the tree is trimmed, or the gifts are wrapped, if the cookies are frosted or the music is playing, if our family is gathered and hugs are exchanged, then our holiday celebration is complete.

Gidget McFidget and Bruce Wayne wishing you all a Fleas Navidad!

Tell me, what are your family’s favorite holiday traditions? Do you focus on the decorations, the gifts, the food, or something else? What is your favorite part of the entire holiday season?

From our house to yours, we wish all of you the very best of the rest of this year, and all the joys of your heart in the new year!

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