Christmas teaches you things about yourself. I used to always say, "I'm going to get up early on the day after Thanksgiving and get all my shopping done by 9 a.m.!" But by now I know better. I know I'm going to put it off till the last minute. And that's okay. Because I'm not one to enjoy being trampled by middle-aged women with bargain lust.
I should start Christmas shopping early. But I don't. I know this about myself.
I haven't yet learned that if I want to make everyone on my list something precious and handcrafted, I really need to start doing that in July. Not December. July.
Like that's ever going to happen.
And so this year I looked at the calendar in early November and made a conscious decision NOT to knit for friends and family this Christmas. It was going to be a store-bought holiday. There is no shame in that.
But now that it's creeping up on me, I'm feeling the lure of the impending adrenaline rush. Just how many socks could I get knitted before Christmas eve? Is it impossible to knit a lace scarf in a week? Wouldn't it be cute to knit everyone little mitten-shaped tree ornaments? Imagine how much cuter a store-bought stuffed animal would look with a hand-knitted sweater on it!
Please talk me down from this madness. There's no reason to start knitting for Christmas now except that I'm so used to feeling stressed out and over-committed that I can't cope with the absence of it.
Maybe I just need to bake some more cookies. And eat them. Join me?
4 comments:
I'll take a cookie or two. I'm in the same boat, fighting off the December over-crafting urges. I, too, have sworn off the knit gifts (well, I might zip out just a few things on the knitting machine, but definitely NO handknits!). It's the sewing that's going to do me in this year (pj pants for *everyone* in my family?? What was I thinking?). I swear, next year it'll be a store-bought Christmas at my house, too.
Ok, say it with me...You don't have time. Put down the knitting needles. Step away from the knitting basket. Take a deep breath. There now doesn't that feel better? Yes, have a nice cookie and some milk.
Much easier for me to say this than do this, but....
Christmas is either about the J-Baby or about family, depending on your personal perspective. What it's NOT about is driving yourself crazy by trying to meet (or exceed) unreasonable, commerce-based expectations that you can never meet and never be satisfied by. So stop the madness, go buy everyone a Borders gift card, and hit the eggnog.
xo
mmmm, the smell of impending stress. It's like the smell of fall leaves on the morning you'll get that report card with your first "D". The crunch of crispy leaves underfoot as you perform your death march up the expansive factory, oops, I mean school steps. Don't do it. Don't go there. Don't let stress pat your shoulder, caress your hair and whisper crazy words about how hand-crafted gifts start a family tradition and say I care. You know it will only end in a screaming match. A fist-to-cuff with the little man with the pick axe in your frontal lobe. Don't do it. Let the rest of us carry the burden for you. Pull up a soft cushion my friend and let me tell you the story about the girl who still has two scarves to knit, 15 doz cookies and 6 lbs of candy to make. Not to mention the store bought gifts for those who do not appreciate hand made efforts. Let it go and be our hero. ;-)
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