My Holiday Vision
By Cheryl Demas
Each year as we prepare for the holidays, I have visions of a beautifully decorated house, with the scents of freshly baked apple pie, happy family members joyously stringing popcorn, and crackling fires. The reality however, is always another story.
Maybe this year, I think, we will have a Martha Stewart holiday season. I’ll go along with my oldest daughter, the Martha Stewart fan, and make garlands from fresh evergreen boughs. Our Christmas tree will have a unified theme and color scheme, we’ll go to the ballet, all pies will be made from scratch, the stuffing will be an exotic blend of wild rice and corn bread. No Stove Top this year!
So I start to unpack the ornaments. I pull out the little Baby Jesus in a Walnut Shell that Nicki made when she was in Kindergarten. Next, I find the homemade reindeer, his antlers made from tracing her little hands. I put them back in the box, there’s no room for these decorations in my "Perfect Holiday" vision.
At church, the children are practicing for the annual Christmas Pageant. The youngest baby Jesus we can find is 10 months old, Mary is allergic to the hay, the shepherds are fighting over who gets to carry the biggest stick. The wise men are wearing bath robes for their costumes. This is not a high class Nutcracker Ballet production.
But then I think about the kind of holiday we would have without these things that have become traditions in our family. The vision looks beautiful but it feels empty. I imagine we could do the "fantasy holiday" if we really wanted to, but how I would miss that Hand Print Reindeer hanging on the wall. I want to watch the kids at church perform the Christmas Story. Yes, most of our decorations do consist of glued macaroni and walnut shells. These things might not fit the vision of a "Perfect Holiday Season" but they’re my vision of how the holidays should be, and I don’t want to change a thing.
So bring on the Stove Top and Cool Whip, the holidays are here!
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