I'm not going to write you a Christmas Poem*

(Pre-script: To get the most of this post, read it as the song: "Blackbird" plays. Go down to the playlist, click it on, then come back and resume reading. I'll wait...) (...still waiting...)

If you have come to my blog looking for my most recent Christmas poem, you will not find it here; not today, at least. If you want to read a Christmas poem, I recommend "Twas the Night Before Christmas," or any number of Christmas carols read without the music. They're all pretty good, and I have nothing new to add to them...not today, at least.
Besides, someone else already wrote the poem about the kid who saved all his money and bought his mom red shoes because it was all she ever wanted. I have no idea how to top that... Not today, at least...

-XOXO,

*To be read to the tune of the Sara Berealis song in which she sings "I'm not going to write you a love song."

Trust me, you don't want to eat this

(Pre-script: As this blog contains no Christmas music, I suggest reading it as the song: " Only Hope," by Switchfoot plays. Go down, turn it on, then come back, and view this post. I'll wait...) (...still waiting...)

Do you have any idea how many germs it takes to make a gingerbread house? More than you care to ingest. Please, just look at the gingerbread houses, do not eat them...

...and just in case you wonder, none of us have ever been confused enough into thinking that Jesus was born in a gingerbread house. Refer to my earlier statement about the germs. The stable would have been much more hygenic.

- XOXO,

Christmas-Shmishmas (A train of thought post...)

(Pre-script: as this blog contains no Christmas music, I have no particular song to pair it's reading with. I have, however, always been partial to the nostalgia of the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; the original "Meet me in Saint Louis" version, where Judy Garland sings "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow" as opposed to the more current lyrics...SO sad. SO perfect.)

Y'all, seriously;
I don't trust anyone who says that he or she doesn't like getting presents. I don't believe that person. I think the person is saying that to try to sound in some way removed or above and beyond such silly human frivality...to which I say, "whatever, Trevor; and to think that we could have been friends." It may be that you are super rich and anything you might ever want is at your fingertips in 5 minutes...I don't know anyone like that personally, though, and I also do not envy that life, because how would you ever enjoy or appreciate anything? You wouldn't.
And seriously, please don't ever say to anyone "We're just going to focus on Jesus and the meaning of Christmas, not the presents." Because I think you are only going to create resentment towards Jesus...and WHY do those two have to be at war with each other? I was so confused by that as a kid; like, "Y'all told me the Christmas story last night, I acted in the play, we lit the candles and read the verses, and trust me, I am so grateful; but why does opening my presents and liking and looking forward to that have to mean that I don't love Jesus? Trust me, I will not forget his birth just because I got excited that you gave me the black turtleneck sweater I asked for with the ruffles on the cuffs...!"
And the Santa thing...it's cultural. It's part of the culture we live in. Have fun with that. Personally, I can't lie to my kids. I just can't. But we still just have fun with it. The legend of Santa began with a nice man trying to help a family out in need; I think that's a great tradition to follow. We all know that there are a million ways that everyone can do that every year, not just at Christmastime. On Sunday, we learned that by giving just $10, a child in Uganda can have clean drinking water...as in, they can drink water and not have to worry about dying from some horrible disease. Just $10.
Y'all, this time of year is stressful. Something in me rebels against it; I hate the feeling of the pressure and expectations to suddenly do, do, do...and I also try to remember what I felt like as a kid this time of year...so I do those fun things with my kids, but the things that are too stressful to me and make me feel like I would rather spend the day with the stomach flu are the things I avoid doing. I think that's good holiday advice for anyone... 'cause we all know what the stomach flu produces. 'nuf said.

-XOXO,

* I DO understand not wanting to recieve gifts from a person who's "gifts" always have unspoken expectations attatched; but that is a different case altogether, and that is not really a "gift," anyway...

P.S. Thank you for staying seated on this train until it came to a complete stop. It could have used a lot more editng...but then it wouldn't have been train of thought, and I was partial to sticking with the train of thought style for this post.