Dec 17, 2008 - 04:05:33 CST
Last year, Christmas got the best of me and I vowed never to repeat that frazzled state of affairs. So, this year, I had a plan for managing the craziness and keeping true to the stillness and reflection that are supposed to characterize the advent season.I began implementing the plan - Operation Christmas Spirit - last January. By mid-November, I already had a stack of Christmas presents wrapped, quite beautifully I thought.
For the first part of this month, I listened smugly to others complain about their endless lists of things to do, while I went sledding with my kids and calmly decorated the house.
But last week, my Christmas Spirit plan began to fray. The first threads appeared while we were braiding, one-by-one, candy cane cookies that looked adorable on Food Network but tasted like toothpaste.
Christmas lights further undermined Operation Christmas Spirit. I untangled and eventually threw away an entire tub of half-working or completely dark lights. After hours of struggling with wires and bulbs, I wound the strands of working lights around the garland on our porch, and then lined up the kids to watch me turn them on.
Instead of cheers, I heard groans of disappointment. Only half the lights lit. I had knocked one of the more than 300 little buggers loose. Someday, I want to meet the Chinese engineer who designed Christmas lights. Clearly, they are a big joke on Americans.
Christmas lights are like kryptonite for the Christmas spirit. So are things like:
n The Chipmunks Christmas CD played on a continuous loop.
n Children who "order" extravagant (expensive) gifts from Santa because they are free.
n Ads that count down the remaining shopping or shipping days beginning in September.
n And presents purchased in advance that cannot be found in their clever hiding place.
Christmas, for women, is almost universally a challenging and stressful time. In addition to our normal duties we attempt to:
n Redecorate our homes.
n Buy (or make) presents for family, friends, neighbors, teachers, service providers, clients, co-workers and needy children.
n Send cards with adorable pictures to everyone we've ever met and want to remain in contact with.
n Fill our homes with fancy, home-baked sweets.
Operation Christmas Spirit has been a revealing effort. I've had to fight harder than I expected to maintain calm and good cheer. There are many forces working against it - most of them our own making.
We've turned the simplicity of that first Christmas upside down and transformed the advent season into a series of tasks - things to check off rather than experience.
In the final week before Christmas, my plan needs to be fortified. It's time to scale back the Martha Stewart expectations and imitate instead the humility and faith of the Holy Family - the real source of Christmas spirit.
Have a beautiful and peaceful Christmas. And may your Christmas lights burn bright.
(Julie Fedorchak is a Bismarck writer whose column appears on alternating Wednesdays. Reach her at jfedorchak@;bis.midco.net.)
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