She's a mean one...Mrs. Grinch

I really cannot help it. I don't mean to be a Grinch. I don't know what comes over me...

Okay...

I take that back. I know exactly what comes over me.

The other night the family was watching Duck Dynasty. It's a family favorite around here. We love that this family is down to earth. They aren't afraid to be Christians and pray. They have values and morals with which we agree and they are outdoorsmen. Love it.

Anyhow...one of the brothers, Jase, isn't into Christmas like everyone else. He said something like, "If you want to celebrate electricity, then put lights on a tree." He said he doesn't like celebrating the make up things of Christmas but just the true meaning.

Light Bulb!

It hit me...that's one of the things I hate most about Christmas. I'm glad my kids are done with Santa though I never really pushed it one way or another. There was always something special under the tree from Santa and the stockings were a "Santa" thing. But I'm glad we're done with that. We still do stockings but the kids know it's from us now.

I am married to a Christmas person. He loves everything about Christmas.

Me?

I can barely force myself to get out the decor. It's a huge job. And though I love certain things about it...I'm not sure I would be all that upset if we didn't do any of it.

Okay, okay, okay...before you freak out on me.

I mean the decorating. Outside lights. Inside lights. The lit up village. The tree...oh the tree. We get a real tree. That's the one thing I demand. Then there's the lights on the tree. The ornaments. Oh...and the tinsel. If you don't know it, the Morrison Clan does it up with tinsel (that's the other little thing that's me). One year we had 10 packages of tinsel on the tree.

Then there are Christmas cards...haven't sent any out yet. I've prepared them 5 years in a row...still sitting in a box downstairs.

Christmas cookies. I follow my mom's old recipe and would rather just sit & eat the dough but the kids, they get out all the cutters and decorate them all.

Shopping...yuck. I just don't like shopping and not just Christmas shopping. I just don't like shopping. It's a thorn in my side. Then you have to wrap it all. Can I just tell you if I had the money, I would so pay someone to wrap it all.

Then there are the 10 places we have to go. There are holiday concerts and parties. There are events at people's houses. Then there is Christmas with the family which happens two different days.

Ugh. I'm tired just thinking about it...because well...I'm a Grinch (which of course is just another made up character).

I have a tree in the living room. We'll decorate this Sunday. I'm sure I'll have fun. We'll make hot cocoa and light a fire and the kids will laugh and there will be a lot of reminiscing. We'll talk about the reason of the season. We'll be around each other and love each other.

And...well...

I'll survive another Christmas season.

My perfect Christmas?

We'd go away to a destination. No decorating. No gifts. We would spend the holiday together, around a fire, and make memories. We would remember the reason for the season and if I did any shopping at all, we'd donate it to needy families.

But here's the thing....

It might be perfect for me, but not for anyone else. My whole family loves all the things that I find to just be a lot of work. They have traditions and memories of years past. They want to make new memories. They want to decorate. They want to make cookies. They want to have gifts to open and watch others open gifts.

So Mrs. Grinch over here will just pick herself up and put on her "big girl pants" and just "suck it up buttercup" (to quote Hals). I'll have fun in the end and be glad we did it all. I just have to find that thing that will make my heart grow two sizes too big so I can give my family another great Christmas.