Ok the title of this blog is not misspelled. I am aware that the phrase is Bah Humbug and it is what people associate with discontent around the holidays. I have purposely called this post Blah Hmmm Bug because I wanted to share a few things about the 2021 Holiday Season. But first, a Christmas story.

I will never forget my first Christmas in our new home in Yorba Linda, CA. I was ten and my brother was four years old. We moved into our house on Christmas Eve. Once all of our stuff was in the house, around 4pm, my dad took us with him to find a Christmas tree. All of the tree lots were abandoned because no one was buying a tree that late on Christmas Eve. So we scored a “free” Charlie Brown-looking tree. That evening we had to go to a Smorgasbord restaurant to have our dinner because we didn’t have groceries or pots and pans available to make food. Later that night, we all went to midnight mass. Yes my little brother slept thru the whole mass. And when we got home I was too tired to push an agenda of staying up late to open at least one gift. The next morning when my brother and I woke up, we came downstairs to find a fully decorated tree and two brand new, shiny bikes! Santa delivered a red Schwinn beach cruiser to me that I still have today.

Blah

My parents were able to “produce” the best Christmas they could with what they had at the time and 42 years later I can still remember all these details. So imagine how guilty I feel for feeling blah about the 2021 holidays. This will be my family’s very first Christmas in our new city and new home. I should be excited and I should actually go over-the-top to make this first Christmas super special. It’s not like I’m avoiding it. I actually LOVE Christmas. However:

1. As the holiday approaches and our family still hasn’t picked a tree, I am feeling pretty blah about getting one now only to enjoy for two weeks.

2. I have been hearing my kids complain about the breakfast that I make every Christmas morning (which my hub loves) so blah, even though I love making this dish, I probably won’t this year.

3. I’m not getting anyone in my family individual gifts because we have a family gift coming this week. It seems so blah not to have to find gifts for my kids and the hub.

4. Forget about the Elf on the Shelf. I didn’t even take the storage bin out of the closet. Blah!

5. Those Advent calendars with the chocolates - my daughter opened Day 1 and blah, she hasn’t opened another one since.

6. The Advent wreath, we’re supposed to be on the third candle (there are only four candles total). Blah, we haven’t lit one yet.

7. Framed Christmas pictures from years past. I love looking at these and some are very special in their frames. Blah, I didn’t even pull out the bin because I don’t have areas to place the pictures yet.

8. Lastly, we have musical stuffed toys that my mom and I would collect every Day After Christmas sale from the Hallmark store. Batteries are required because the stuffed figures move to the music. I started to pull them out but decided I couldn’t deal with all the batteries and again, there is no place to put them. Blah.

Hmmmm

The wonder of how things will get done when there are so many things that need to be done. Hmmmm. I’ll just put my nose to the grindstone and do the best that I can for this to be a special holiday season. I have loved getting stocking stuffers for my family for years. It’s the thrill of finding thoughtful pinches and adding them all at once into a stocking. Altogether it ends up to be a pretty significant gift. When I realized that I only had 2 weeks not only to collect the pinches, wrap them AND mail them out too, I thought, “Hmmmm, how am I going to get that done?” Instead of going totally crazy, I decided I would just hope for the best. Sounds whimsical and it is!

Bug

Years ago when my kids were still toddlers, I used to get bothered when people would send the kids packages to our house and ask me to wrap them. It bugged me and it was a pet peeve for years. Nowadays I don’t mind it all. I have always liked wrapping gifts so I am not sure why I was so bugged by these requests. Maybe it was because I was doing way too much already that it added another “to-do”. Back then, I couldn’t handle one more “to-do”. Well this year the tables have turned and it is me being the bug! I have asked my sister-in-law to wrap gifts for my niece and nephew even though I know it is hassle. It makes the most sense and luckily my SIL is very practical. I might have to ask my other sister-in-laws to do some wrapping as well. I hate being a bug but I am trying to be mindful of the Earth. The carbon footprints in transporting one item - the gift is sent to me first, I wrap it, put it in another box and send it out to the recipient - is not only time consuming (time spent at the post office), it adds even more packaging into the recycling bin and think about all the emissions. I just can’t do it. So I have become the bug this year. Although, there have been a couple of items that had the option to be gift wrapped prior to being shipped and I was so happy about that.

Blah Hmmm Bug - It’s not something to feel guilty about. Rather, I’m just expressing that there are things or traditions that I’m feeling blah about this holiday season. There are also some things that I have no idea (hmmm) what I will do but I’m hoping for the best and finally there are pet peeves that we deal with during the holidays and this year I’m the one being the bug.

I heard from others and I think we’re not alone.

My friend Kelly shared that this is the first holiday season that they are not sending out cards or doing Elf on the Shelf. Blah Hmmm Bug? No, I think those who feel this pressure to get cards out have a legitimate reason to opt out. If sending cards is forced for the sake of checking something off the list, then it does no one any good. And Elf on the Shelf is a lot of work - same premise - do not do it just because of the pressure to check something off a list. I will share that if it wasn’t for having a picture that both the hub and I agreed was the “one” (taken by my friend Allison) and the need to share our new address, I wouldn’t have gotten my act together in time to get holiday cards out either. Not only was my intention to share the special photo with everyone but I wanted to get the cards out by Thanksgiving so that no one had to ask for our new address. Even though we had our picture since July, I didn’t order our cards until November and they arrived after Thanksgiving.

My cousin shared that she has always hated Christmas. Blah Hmmm Bug? No, there are plenty of people, who regardless of religion, just can’t stand the pomp and circumstance of the big day. It doesn’t mean they hate people, gatherings, gifts, lights, cookies, dinner, drinks, snow etc. The day itself has an effect on them that they dread. That is legit. My cousin said that this year, like years in the past, she would motor thru Christmas for the sake of others. Typically, hearing this kind of talk would crush me. How can anyone NOT love Christmas? However, this year my advice to her was from my heart: Don’t push it. Doesn’t do anyone good. Curl up into a cocoon and let it ride over you. No one will stop being your friend if you duck out. And magically, all the other events and holidays will mean much more to you because you honored your dislike of one holiday. My Catholic self recognizes that hating Christmas isn’t a slam against the birth of Jesus. Rather, it is honoring what doesn’t feel right. Jesus was born on December 25th but we can celebrate him every day if we wanted to.

Just a few thoughtful pinches traditions that I will protect like a mama bear:

1. Puerto Rican Egg Nog

2. Christmas Cookies

3. Popcorn Tins + gift cards

4. Teacher gifts

Two Christmas Eve family traditions I’d love to keep: Christmas Eve mass and tamales for dinner. And if I can be greedy, I’d love to keep the mini date night Christmas dinner tradition when the hub and I go for a run, get cleaned up, dressed up and go to the best steak house to have drinks at the bar while we wait for steak dinners for the family to-go.

As I get older (and WISER!) I have become better aware of my feelings. My blah hmmm bug feelings for the 2021 Holiday Season are probably happening as a way to separate the traditions that matter most. After all, it’s a new city and a new home. My kids have only known one way to do Christmas for the last 15 years. This year we can make new traditions. Maybe we will cut the other stuff out and find a truer meaning of Christmas. I sound like a Hallmark Christmas Movie but for someone who loves the heck out of Christmas and not feel like doing anything about it this year, is a message: It’s time to re-evaluate and do what feels right. And if it’s different every year, who cares? We don’t get awards for hitting every tradition on the check list every year.

As tempting as it is to cut everything out to see what happens, I will probably do some Christmas magic because I truly get a rush once I get going. No matter what happens, the kids will remember this Christmas for years to come because it will be our first in Denver. It may be simple, very special or even horrible. But there’s always next year.

Pinches,

Barb