An Adult Christmas

Christmas is a time of celebration, a time of family gatherings, a time of remembering the best gift ever given, and a time of giving gifts. As a child, the anticipation of Christmas morning is all that occupies our thoughts from Thanksgiving until that special day. We would put our Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Day (artificial, of course, with the family's allergy problems), usually while watching the Macy's Parade on TV. As the day drew closer, presents gradually start appearing under the tree. By Christmas Eve, most of the tree was full, but somehow there always were new presents by Christmas morning. I never really questioned when or how the presents were bought; I just enjoyed them with the excitement of a child.

As an adult, I have a totally new perspective on Christmas and, more specifically, gift-giving. My brother and I are adults, married with no children. We all work and, while we aren't rich, we are usually able to buy anything that we need or really want. So when Christmas season arrives, shopping for gifts is a stressful adventure. We try to create lists of suggestions for buying presents, but thinking of things that we want and won't buy ourselves before Christmas and having different enough lists for all the family members is quite a difficult task. And I do believe my brother is the hardest person to shop for! So this Christmas season after many hours of aimless wandering and wishing I knew what to buy, I finally finished my shopping less than 24 hours before I need the gifts.

All this stress has made me realize one important thing: I really don't know my family as well as I think I do. I stay so busy with my own life that I don't share many of my personal interests with my family, nor I find out about theirs. I don't know my brother's hobbies or my sister-in-law's favorite color. I don't know what my father likes reading about the Civil War or what mystery series my mother is currently reading. So the lesson learned this holiday season is that I need to take more time throughout the year to really focus on my family and knowing them more personally. As I continue to talk to them and visit with them, I need to stop focusing on myself and pay more attention to their likes and dislikes. Maybe that way I'll be more prepared for next year's Christmas shopping adventure.