Survivors!

WELL, I’M GOING TO ASSUME THAT, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU ARE STILL ALIVE. In some cases I know that that may be a bit of a stretch, but it does look as if you made it through another Christmas.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Christmas Dinner – and then there is a day of Christmas Leftovers and Batteries not included. That seems to be the Order of Battle

For me that day after Christmas usually involves multiple trips to the supermarket for a can of this or that and a Dollar Store Safari for batteries of the size I failed to buy before Christmas. How was I to know that nothing uses “D” size batteries anymore? If you ever find that you need some “D” batteries let me know because I have a boxcar load of them out in the garage. Most of them may be thirty years old, but they can be yours at a reasonable price.

I find that the buildup to Christmas, which seems to start in about mid-July, to be exhausting and the holidays as a whole to be completely draining.

The Day After has turned into a day of “Tote and Fetch,” running around town looking for stuff that should have been picked up days before, and then toting all of the Christmas trash out to the garbage bins.

If I was into the “Fit” craze the Day After would allow me to rack up a few hundred thousand steps without actually going anywhere.

It is on that day after Christmas when you learn which gifts really hit the spot. If the kids are still playing with whatever toy you gave them you are in the running for “Favorite Grownup.” If your toy is over there next to their new socks and underwear – better luck next year. Until then you are just another relative who they will avoid. I think I lost my talent for picking good toys back in the 1990s.

The excitement of the Christmas holidays changes with your age. As an Infant/Toddler it must all be a confusing and somewhat frightening time. There are changes everywhere. New, strange people are showing up every few minutes. Bright lights and loud music are everywhere.

Kids in the middle Puberty age range? To them Christmas is the Top! Toys! Cookies! All sorts of good foods and lots of it. It doesn’t get any better. And the lazy relatives, rather than go shopping will slip you cash.

It all starts to slip when the teen years arrive and “coolness” becomes an important factor. That is when those Amazon Gift Cards come into play – Instant Coolness made of plastic.

At my age I am beginning to realize that I am looking at the holidays a lot like the Toddlers again. It has become more of a description of my daily routine. I don’t like all of the Hoopla and Bright Lights. I want my coffee and some quiet time to read, write, and try to remember why I came into the room. Is that too much to ask? Everyone else seems to think the answer to that rhetorical question is “Yes.”

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