crazymommaofthree: Bah Humbug and all that

Grumpy cat is awesome.

Ok so this weekend past we did what my kids have been pretty much nagging for us to do for weeks already.... dum dum dum we set up the Christmas tree.

Its not that I hate christmas but I dont like it and with good reason:

First off it is so overly commercialized its all about money, I am not Christian so I shouldn't care that the retailers are totally slaughtering the whole point of this day, but come on people its all about I want I want I want and sally has more than Joe and why cant we have this or that.

Retailers take advantage of the season, toys are sold for ridiculous prices that mean having more than one child leaves you absolutely broke through the better part of next year, yes I know its not the stores fault if you have more than one child and I know they are a business to but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

The christmas carols oh my Goddess run and hide and it starts in October already as soon as those halloween decorations come down those christmas decorations go up and there comes the carols over and over and over again it is maddening.

The shops are just crazy even if you are not shopping for gifts and want to pop in and out for bread it becomes an hour long saga because its just mad, I HATE shopping centers in General when Gabriel was born I spent most of the day in a breast feeding room while my exes family shopped because I just couldn't handle it.

The TV channels become inundated with Christmas movies- hello not everyone wants to watch them especially when you constantly repeat them and I am not talking about DSTV cause I don't have that, I am talking normal TV.

Everyone switches from naughty to nice- hello you cant be a douche for 3/4 of the year and then turn around in December and suddenly everyone is just amazing argh.

Charity- this irks me because giving is something that should be done out of your heart and anytime of the year not just at Christmas because you feel guilty, I'm sure everyone knows at least one person who does this and yes its great that they are giving just wish people would do it all year round.

So why do we do the Christmas thing- well because of the boys, honestly if it weren't for them we would not have a tree or anything even though most Christmas traditions stem from Pagan origins (yes look it up) its just not for us.

So anyway every year I wait as long as possible then we haul out our really tiny tree (decent sized trees are stupid expensive) and I haul out the decorations and let the kids go haywire between the magenta and teal and the red and gold (yes the kids think that looks amazing), the tree usually ends up lopsided and all the decorations seem to sit on top of each other but they love it and they love doing it.

Growing up my parents used to make a big thing of Christmas and it was great I really enjoyed it that is until we did the whole Santa isn't real thing and from then on we pretty much chose our own gifts and such which in a way I also allow the kids to do as I ask them to list what they would like they don't get everything as it is usually a mile long but we usually gauge what they want the most and also what we feel is the most appropriate.

When my ex and I first split I over compensated badly at Christmas time up until last year; terrible I know but I just missed the boys so much and I just wanted to show them how much I loved them, I went about it totally wrong and unfortunately now doing damage control and getting them to understand that Santa has a budget is difficult, especially since my exes family is so big with Christmas the tree is HUGE, the food is amazing and the gifts are piled high, its great for them don't get me wrong and I did enjoy it when I still was part of it so I'm glad the boys get to experience it.

Look apart from everything I love the family time I really do, I like coming together and who doesn't like getting gifts but why I do it is simple I do it for the looks on my children's faces, I do it to make them happy, I do it because I love them, I do it because no matter how much we have to scrimp in January it is worth it for them, I might not like it and it makes me want to cry when I see my bank balance but it is worth it to see them happy.

I do try my best to explain to the kids that it is not about the gifts and there are children out there that don't get etc, its why we do the Santa shoe box project every year- I do one box for each of my children and they help choose the stuff to fill it and then go with me to drop it off, we all enjoy doing it and its not the only charity organization I support but I do think it was or is a great project to support particularly if you do like doing an end of year donation.

I would also like to recommend the support of the following organizations that really have a place in my heart for what they do:

Cuddles and Puddles

The Uitsig Rescue centre- www.uitsig.org.za

National Sea Rescue- www.nsri.org.za

Red cross children's hospital- http://childrenshospitaltrust.org.za

You don't have to donate and most certainly not just at Christmas but if you would like to they are all amazing groups and I personally support them whenever I can, even if it is just blankets or food of the animals, old toys for the children at red cross or a small monthly donation to the sea rescue that runs completely non government funded.

Personally I like getting the boys involved when it comes to certain donations I feel it is good to teach them to give to others whenever they can and also to show them how lucky they are to have the things that they have.

Whatever your Christmas traditions are if you just relax with family at home watching a movie like we do or have a big splash I think it it is just important to enjoy and spend the time with your family because for some people it is I suppose the only real time you get it if you work constantly and it is maybe your only leave time.