Bah Humbug!  I’ve been saying for a few weeks now that I really hate Christmas.  While that may not be entirely true, I was forced to analyze my reasons for frustration in the holiday season.  I may even have blogged on these before but they haven’t changed and who reads the blog anyway, right?

I think my primary frustration comes from having family on both sides that puts the fun in dysfunctional.  We’re not close, can’t explain why and see no need to really try and resolve it.  Honestly, I have felt like an outsider inside my own family since I was quite small.  As a result, I crave for my family to be closer.  We are but sometimes it seems not quite close enough.  And, of course, factor in that the older four brats have flown the coop and the holidays seem like a big, fat, letdown in the making for family time.

I also hate presents.  I hate shopping for presents.  I’m intimidated by how much some people give their kids and, while I have never really felt the urge (or had the ability) to keep up with that I always wonder how that makes my kids feel.  I also hate that presents take the focus of Christmas away from what it should be which is faith (although I am losing mine lately but that’s another post), friends and family.  Having a shitty family has set me up for disappointment for quite awhile.

The other part I don’t like so much is that once Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are done, that’s it.  Typically the days between the 25th of December and the 31st are just nothing but wasted opportunities for fun.  So this year, because I am really digging deep to make these holidays not suck, I have come up with and will be implementing the first annual 12 Days of Christmas.

Here they are:

• 24^th Christmas Eve (@our friends’ house for cards, cocktails, whatever)
• 25^th Christmas Brunch here will also involve opportunities to play with all the video games and other toys that we’ll be getting.  (ROCK BAND!) So come over and get your nerd on.
  
• 26^th Boxing Day: Grocery shop and deliver purchases to food pantry
• 27^th St. Stephen’s Day: Surprise friends with treats or maybe dinner?
• 28^th Denzel Washington’s birthday: Movie Festival!  Not necessarily Denzel Movies since a lot of them aren’t really Khan friendly.
• 29^th Celebrating the birthday of the inventor of the chicken nugget! Nuggets and fries for dinner and game day!
• 30^th Rudyard Kipling born 1865: Watch Jungle Book, my favoritest Disney Movit today.  Also: Severus: Harry Potter!
• 31^st Hogmanay, 14^TH Wedding Anniversary: Dinner party,Games, make sure I am showered with gifts and accolades and treated like a Queen (yeah, right!)
• 1^st New Year’s Day
• 2^nd Ogre/Crunchy and the Queen (hopefully) here for more video games and family time
• 3^rd Kindertag (kids can plan the day) Sarge and I will be here for our anniversary.  It is rare that we get away like grown ups.  I am very excited.
• 4^th Anniversary of the Battle of Reading.  I realize this has nothing to do with books but the kids will never figure it out since we’ve blocked Wikipedia.  I shall curl up with a good book, read some stories to the Khan and whomever else wants to listen and everyone picks a favorite snack for lunch and dinner that day.  I will have to work to make some of them healthy.

January 5th will be “Haul my Fat Ass to the Gym” day.

Cheers!