They PROBABLY could have stood back up under their own power if they'd fallen down, but it's tough to say for sure.This morning, Libby mentioned to me that this holiday, because of Gabe, was shaping up differently than any of the seasons we've shared together in the past. She said for the first time in a VERY long time, she was beginning to feel the magic of Christmas again, and she pulled up a photo of Gabe and Finn that she took last night to illustrate it:
Standing in front of the thrift store's window, looking in wonder at a display of "antique" toys (some of which Libby remembered having when growing up).This was, she noted, something that we haven't had in our Christmas seasons yet--a REASON to have a Christmas season. Until this year, Christmas has been more of a chore that we've gone through the motions of because we felt we SHOULD go through the motions, not because we really wanted to. And, as the years have passed, we've gone through fewer and fewer of the motions--we've stepped down from a real tree to a fake tree to another fake tree that stands only four feet tall, we've put up fewer and fewer decorations, we've all but stopped decorating the inside AND the outside of the house. Soon, however, we might have a reason to want to put some real effort into our decorating again.
Not just yet, but soon.
For my part, I haven't quite come around yet. Growing up, I always enjoyed Christmas, but I've never been anywhere near fanatical about it. Then, for five years, I worked in a camera store in a mall, and that pretty much destroyed every positive feeling that I had for the season. If you want to hate Christmas, work in a mall (or, I imagine, one of the "big box" stores).
Christmas starts November 1 in the malls. It starts slow. Some of the shops start breaking out the decorations, which usually takes a week or two to get set up. And, while they are getting set up, the mall itself starts its gradual transformation. Crews start putting up the gaudy decorations and the music begins to shift.
Oh, the music. That more than anything killed the Christmas spirit in me.
At first (this is the day after Halloween, mind you), they started to "casually" slip in a song or two during the loop of music they normally ran--one song every five or six normal songs. Then, as the days passed in November, they phased out the normal music until, eventually, they had a loop of about two hours of music that they ran endlessly. And they only had ONE loop. And they never played any GOOD Christmas music. They focused almost entirely on the schlocky or the hackneyed or the "popular" music of the time--playing abominations like "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" or an old standard that has been atrociously modernized by some currently over-saturated pop moron. And then, for some reason, they snuck in ONE song that I still sort of like "Do They Know It's Christmas," the hopelessly depressing--but supposedly motivational--Band Aid charity song from the 80s. But even that song I got a little disgusted with because, despite its message, it was STILL being used to shill the spirit of the season.
Five years of hearing the same songs droning on, over and over again, darkened my soul towards the season. I think that's pretty understandable. NOTHING is good when you get too much of it. Everything has to be enjoyed in moderation or it eventually becomes either a habit or distasteful.
But that was some years back, now, and I'm beginning to move on. I'm still not there, but having children in the house who will genuinely enjoy the old Rankin/Bass specials or Charlie Brown's Christmas, or who might stare in wonder at the silently glowing lights of a decorated tree, or who can be subtly impressed by the rescue of a low-budget Santa from the top of a local historical theater might just help to de-Scrooge-ify me.
Staying out of the malls will help, too.
Not just yet, but soon.
For my part, I haven't quite come around yet. Growing up, I always enjoyed Christmas, but I've never been anywhere near fanatical about it. Then, for five years, I worked in a camera store in a mall, and that pretty much destroyed every positive feeling that I had for the season. If you want to hate Christmas, work in a mall (or, I imagine, one of the "big box" stores).
Christmas starts November 1 in the malls. It starts slow. Some of the shops start breaking out the decorations, which usually takes a week or two to get set up. And, while they are getting set up, the mall itself starts its gradual transformation. Crews start putting up the gaudy decorations and the music begins to shift.
Oh, the music. That more than anything killed the Christmas spirit in me.
At first (this is the day after Halloween, mind you), they started to "casually" slip in a song or two during the loop of music they normally ran--one song every five or six normal songs. Then, as the days passed in November, they phased out the normal music until, eventually, they had a loop of about two hours of music that they ran endlessly. And they only had ONE loop. And they never played any GOOD Christmas music. They focused almost entirely on the schlocky or the hackneyed or the "popular" music of the time--playing abominations like "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" or an old standard that has been atrociously modernized by some currently over-saturated pop moron. And then, for some reason, they snuck in ONE song that I still sort of like "Do They Know It's Christmas," the hopelessly depressing--but supposedly motivational--Band Aid charity song from the 80s. But even that song I got a little disgusted with because, despite its message, it was STILL being used to shill the spirit of the season.
Five years of hearing the same songs droning on, over and over again, darkened my soul towards the season. I think that's pretty understandable. NOTHING is good when you get too much of it. Everything has to be enjoyed in moderation or it eventually becomes either a habit or distasteful.
But that was some years back, now, and I'm beginning to move on. I'm still not there, but having children in the house who will genuinely enjoy the old Rankin/Bass specials or Charlie Brown's Christmas, or who might stare in wonder at the silently glowing lights of a decorated tree, or who can be subtly impressed by the rescue of a low-budget Santa from the top of a local historical theater might just help to de-Scrooge-ify me.
Staying out of the malls will help, too.
Glad you are coming around honey!
ReplyDelete-Libby
I see Gabe is hovering around those seriously awesome-looking trucks and stuff. (Which have probably never been played with by a little boy, judging by their condition.) Anything Santa needs to know?
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, we DID have that play garage! Talk about a blast from the past... I used to love winding the little crank to make that elevator thing go up and down.