The Truth about why I am scared of ending Christmas.

I am not one of those women who boasts having the tree up on November 1, and I will admit, I was still madly shopping and wrappping on Christmas Eve.  The whole commercial side of the holiday does not appeal to me at all, it might be because I hate shopping on any regular day, but jam in a bunch of frantic shoppers all looking for that last minute purchase when they are overtired and cranky...and well, I get stressed.

But once I get the tree up and the kids are finished school, and we all eat too much and sleep in almost every day(except for hubby, who thinks waiting until 9a.m. to wake me up constitutes letting me sleep in)...I wallow in it.  I love having the kids home, and their friends coming and going.  I love friends dropping by for some snacks and to catch up on all the news.  And I love not having to go out to do errands or drop kids off in the super cold because we can stay in and make do with what we have in the cupboards.  Add in some random dates with hubby, and the whole break was pretty sweet.

While others get praised for getting their tree up early, I haven't found the same response when people enter the house and see my brightly lit tree still standing in the corner.  I use to say that I always left it up until after Elvis' birthday, but that just added a further confused look to their face. They didn't realize that some nut bars even know when Elvis' birthday is...let alone celebrate it in some strange way by refusing to take the Christmas tree down.

So here is the truth.  Every year I am scared I won't be here for Christmas next year.  I tell Tim and the kids all the stories that go with all the ornaments, who gave them, and why some of them are glued together like a puzzle.  Every year, I try to stretch out Christmas for just a few more days.  A few days of having my family with me, a few days of that warm fuzzy feeling that Christmas brings, and a few more days of relaxed bliss.  So laugh if you like, but my tree is still up in my living room, and I will keep it...for just a few more days.