Celebrating The Traditional Twelve Days of Christmas

"Okay, Christmas is over!"  you say.  I get it, they started the ads before Halloween and if you hear one Jingle Bell Rock one more time your ears will begin to bleed.  I really do get it.  There is however just one pesky detail...

If, and only if, you believe in the birth of Christ then Dec. 25 is the first day (of Christmas) and as anyone who's sung the song can tell you, there are twelve days of Christmas.  In many cultures it is actually the twelfth day that is considered Christmas.  That is the day that Christ was presented at the temple and recognized by good old what's his name as the Messiah.  Now, that may be way too religious for a whole lot of ya, but I have a couple reasons of my own for going traditional.

First, the days following the 25th have always been the ones where all the running around is over.  You get to play with your toys, visit with family and friends, and school's not back until at least the 2nd.  You get to breathe a bit.  Since I've taken this all a little more seriously, I realize that these are the days when one little tiny baby was the wonder of the world.  I remember falling in love with a one day old, it is not to be skipped over.  I for one, want these days to step back from the frenzy that Madison Avenue started and has taken on a life of its own...no, take some time to fall in love again.  Enjoy the holidays, bask in the love of family and friends that we seem to only take out for this special occasion.  Don't be in such a hurry to put away the Christmas spirit.

For another thing, it has pissed me off, for as long as I can remember, that this holiest of days has been hijacked by companies that want to sell me CARS to give as gifts and other ridiculous notions...arrrrg.  More practically, I haven't finished (or necessarily started) my Christmas cards, shipping gifts and I just got the decorations up.  So there, I'm just getting started and if you know me - even a little bit - you know that I am not letting the big businesses hijack my holidays, so if you are done - good for you!  You can save my card for next year, and in that case, I'm early for a change.  Merry Christmas!