Happy Boxing day!
So the magic and thrill and angst and stress and credit card charges and parking and *!&@$% of Christmas are over now. And the Christmas junkies are already starting to get the shakes and chills. So what is a Christmas season lover supposed to do now?
Become Canadian, eh! Well, Canadian, or British or some other nationality that celebrates Boxing Day. Boxing day is a great holiday in my opinion because it the day that you get to box up all of the carp from Christmas and put it all away. The Santas have a box, the lights have a box, the tree has a box (well at least mine does), the ornaments have a box. It all has a box. Box it.
I mean else is Boxing day for but for boxing up Christmas and putting it away? Now that is something to celebrate.
Don't get me wrong
I love Christmas. I love when someone takes the time of their life to think of me enough to remember something I may have said throughout the year that merited a remembrance on their part. Or even better, when someone is observant enough to know exactly what I want/need without me having to even say anything about it (I myself am working on this still, so I understand if that is too much to ask).
And I love it when someone gives me something because it really blesses them to give it to me. Or because they absolutely know that I will be touched by it. That is a part of Christmas I love.
I also like the part of Christmas where people stop being a bunch of buttknocking, cursewording, noseturning, selfworshipping, carphoarding couldn'tcarelessers and actually start thinking of others first. In a positive light. When giving and caring become the focus of Christmas it just makes the season that much better for me.
Take, for example, a few of the gifts my kids got me this year. Sarah, my oldest daughter, got a sweet Blue and Chrome Cross ATX rollerball pen. She knows that I love pens. She knew that I really wanted a quality rollerball pen because I don't have one at the moment. Did I put this on a Christmas list? Did I really ever spend a lot of time talking about how bad I wanted on of these? No. She listened, and cared, and it brought her great joy to give me something she knew I would like.
And Rebekah, my second oldest daughter, gave me probably one of the coolest gifts I have gotten ever. An authentic Super Bowl XXXIV (34 for those that don't speak Latin) game ball autographed by MVP Kurt Warner. This really has never been on any Christmas list of mine ever. But Bekah knows that I love football, that I totally love the Super Bowl and that I am one of Kurt Warner's greatest fans. She put two and two together and got me a very extravagant gift that really touched me (yes, I peaked inside the box again this morning just to make sure it was real and still there 
).
These are gifts that mean a lot to me. Not because of any financial value attached to them. But because my kids thought enough about me to get me something from their hearts. That is Christmas. That is giving. That is what I love about Christmas.
The other stuff... well, that is what Boxing Day is for. So enjoy Boxing day. I will be. And remember, there are only 365 shopping days left until Christmas. Better get cracking.
