I should really have made the title the Chaos and Joy of Christmas.

With each week that we move toward Christmas, a different aspect of Holiday preparation begins at our house.   Each step of making new memories can be bittersweet as we recall good times with those loved ones we have lost.   This is not a sad post.  Having those memories means we have had more good times than bad, and we have had good people touch our lives.

We kick off the decorating by finishing the leftover turkey on Thanksgiving weekend.  Then we pull out the boxes and bins of holiday decorations that we have accumulated over the years.  From those boxes and bins, we pick out what we will use this year.  A little clearing out of broken, outdated, or unwanted items happens when we unpack items and then repack the items to put them into storage.

Along with the boxes, out comes the artificial tree.   Some people will only use a live tree.  For those that do, more power to you.   We decided years ago that we prefer the tree we can use again from year to year.  I know the argument.  You miss the fresh pine smell.  No, we do not.  We have found the perfect candle, and we make sure to get a new one before the old one burns to nothing.   Some years, we bought a fresh wreath for the front door so that we had the evergreen tree smell.  We did not need the tree to get that.   Besides minimal maintenance as no watering is needed, we have a lot less work cleaning up after the season.   The years of finding pine needles somewhere in the house on the next Fourth of July are over.   For us, artificial trees are also cost effective.

I digress.  The tree must be up by December 1st.  It does not get completely decorated by that date, but it is pulled out of storage and assembled in the living room.  One downside of an artificial tree is having to fluff out the smushed branches. Fluffing the tree must happen before anything else is added.

We also make sure to get the outside decorations together as there is usually better weather for that task early in December.   The amazing thing about Christmas lights is that we can check them on a Wednesday and they all light up.  By Saturday, some of them do not work and we have to pick up a few new strings of lights.   So, the tree is up, and the lights are tested.

The wreaths are put up.  Santa and the Nutcracker and the Wooden Reindeer (made by my daughter’s friend, Twig.  The irony does not get lost on me.) go on the front porch. This year the front porch crew are joined by a new character, a light up snowman.  Santa is a family heirloom.  He was purchased, by Dave’s Mom and Dad, from Sears, for my husband’s first Christmas back in 1959.  Santa has traveled from Dave’s childhood home in New Hope to our house in Doylestown to his new location at our daughter, Courtney’s house in Quakertown.  He looks pretty good for being almost 60 years old as he has been repainted a few times.  He recently got a makeover with new paint, a new led light, and a new cord.   He’s ready for another 60 years.

Light testing was completed with supervision by Buster the cat, so the lights are strung on the tree.  Picking out ornaments comes in the next 10 days or so.  The very next item to be completed is bringing out the collection of singing plush characters that have been purchases and gifts over the years. My husband and daughter will line them up and then press all the buttons in a row.  The Hallmark Snowmen and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Abominable Snowman and Snoopy all sound like they are trying to out sing each other.  I really am not a fan of the singing over top of singing, but I am a good sport.  My husband and daughter play this game all season as they know it is not my favorite thing.   Hearing the guffaws or the mischievous giggles right before the wall of noise hits, is however, well worth any minor assault on my ears.

The advent calendars are brought out.  We typically have several.  One of these is a homemade wall hanging, crafted by my daughter.  Each year, it is different as we choose different Jingle Beanie Babies for each day, reserving Beanie Rudolph and Beanie Santa for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The stockings are hung.   The crocheted, granny square stockings I made for Dave and me 40 years ago still get hung every year.   The hand sewn stockings for our son and daughter, that I made when they were babies, get hung again too.  Added to the group is the stocking I customized for my daughter-in-law, Leah.   On Christmas day, the emptying of the stockings is as much fun as opening other gifts.  It is fun to find quirky little items to add to each other’s stockings.

The shopping for gifts is finished.   It starts selectively back in October and then the watch for sales happens along the way to December.   By early December, most items are already purchased and stashed until wrapping, or they have been ordered.  With each package delivery, the dog goes through a range of expectations, excitement, and disappointment within a few minutes.  He’s convinced every bag or box that comes in to the house contains presents for him.

Over the first few weeks in December, the ornaments are brought out, perused, and selected to be hung on the tree.   We have had trees in every room in the past and still have different sized trees in different rooms again this year.   If I could get away with it, I would even have a decorated tree on the front porch.  The ornaments have much sentimental value, as they were picked out on vacations, made as kids school projects, received as gifts, given as gifts, and family heirlooms passed down over the generations.  So,it is a serious process to look them over and pick out those special ones to go on the tree each year.   It is different every year, just as it is with my homemade Beanie Baby advent calendar.   They do not have to be parts of special collections like the Hallmark Ornaments we like and have bought for each other over the years.   One of the family favorites is a clothespin reindeer, made in elementary school by my son or daughter, who lost a glued-on eye.  I felt inspired one year and gave him an eye patch with black marker.  So, the pirate reindeer always get a place of prominence on the tree.

The tchotchkes for the season go out on every available ledge and shelf.  Watching Christmas movies and shows, mostly from the Hallmark Channels, becomes the daily routine.  Christmas mugs come out to be used with daily coffee or even hot chocolate.   The grocery list for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is completed as menus are planned and confirmed.  A final run to the store to get fresh fruits and veggies will happen late in the week before the company arrives.

The planning of the Christmas baking begins.  The tradition of giving cookies or other baked goods continues in our family.   I remember vividly my Aunts, my Mom, and my Grandmother getting together in early December to make nut rolls for the holiday.  This was a two-kitchen operation.   One Aunt lived across the street.  The ingredients, preparation, baking, and packing continued seamlessly from one kitchen to the other.  Then, at our house, the nut rolls or apricot rolls or poppy seed rolls were frozen until the days before Christmas.  I continued holiday baking with our children.  We switched to cookies and brownies and pastries for entertaining and to give as gifts.   From an early age, our children were taught to make something for others and to value handmade items.   If we were not making cookies, we would be making ornaments to give to friends, relatives, teachers, etc.

My daughter, the pastry chef and chocolatier, goes through her collection of holiday magazines and cookbooks and makes her choices.  Ingredients are pulled out and lined up on the kitchen workstation.  The shopping for missing ingredients occurs and then the baking begins during the week before Christmas to have the freshest possible baked goods.   No matter what Courtney makes or buys for someone, the inevitable question is, where are my cookies?   So, the holiday baking traditions continue.  It is a joy to watch her bake, and to help out when asked to do something.  I do like taste testing the latest items as they come out of the oven, too.

Of course, today I was reminded of the chaos that goes with joy.  It was a long evening of baking after work for Courtney to make shipping deadlines to send packages to friends in Florida.  Fresh cookies are always included in those packages.   Courtney was too tired to complete her usual clean up after baking.  When I went into the kitchen this morning, I thought I had wandered into a fight between the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Keebler Elves.   There was flour on every surface.  Parts of baking appliances were stacked in the sink.  The bowl from the stand mixer joined the plastic container from the food processor and various pots, pans, spoons, and spatulas.   Pot holders and baking pans were on the floor.  Cookies and bars were stacked on every other surface. I smiled as I cleaned up the kitchen.  I am very happy to help out as these delectable creations will make their way to different households for Christmas gifts.

So, it is back to working on homemade gifts for the rest of the week as we wait for the visit from our son and daughter-in-law.  Then we will all have Christmas Dinner with Dave’s Mom as another family tradition.

The joy amid the chaos is that every step of the way this month had been done as family time.  The last week of preparations continue, and it is back to reminiscing about events from Christmas past as we enjoy Christmas present.   Along the way this week, one of my cousins had a baby boy, so there is a nod also to Christmas future.

May you be blessed with the Spirit of the Season, which is Peace; the Gladness of the Season, which is Hope; and the Heart of the Season, which is Love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Until next time…….

Rose