Christmas Creep

I’m not a fan of Christmas. I hate being a Scrooge, but it’s winter and usually cold, and I find the whole season somewhat stressful, and I don’t like pairing red with green, and don’t even get me started on how it feels to be infertile during a holiday that celebrates the birth of a baby.

So yeah, it’s no surprise that all the retail Christmas creep drives me absolutely bonkers. I don’t want to browse pumpkin decorations and buy candy corn at Target and have to walk past an aisle of Christmas stuff first. Seriously, people, SEPTEMBER IS NOT THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

And now Christmas creep has invaded my house. Since Henry and Eleanor discovered last week that Santa brings them presents, instead of existing solely to haunt their nightmares, they have mentioned him several times every day. When I told the kids on Sunday we were going back home, Henry said that Santa would be at our house. Today they told me that Santa would bring them garbage trucks. And you cannot convince a two-year-old that no, Santa actually doesn’t come for another month or so, yes, he will come to our house and bring us presents but come on, it’s still two weeks before it’s even Thanksgiving and can’t Mommy just celebrate one of her favorite holidays and eat her sweet potatoes and stuffing in peace and not mention Christmas until December 1? Because believe me, I have tried.

But I have to admit that my dark, coal-black heart does melt a little seeing Henry and Eleanor pore over the toys in the Christmas catalog. And I did get a wee bit excited thinking about how they’ll react to all the Christmas lights, and wondering what they’ll think about putting up the tree. And okay, so I might have spent some time pondering if they’d be old enough to watch Charlie Brown or Rudolph this year and planning a family movie night in my head.

I still don’t want to see lighted snowmen or jingle-bell handtowels before it’s even Halloween. And I might not ever run down the street shouting “God bless us, everyone!” But Henry and Eleanor just might add a bit of bliss to my bah humbug this year.