December

                                      

Well look at that, the last page on the calendar is now hanging and December is here again.  December is the month that can quietly create either a sense of anticipation or dread within us.  I feel if December were a person, it would be bipolar, so many highs and lows mixed with happiness and sadness.  If it were in a relationship, it would be a love/hate one. December can also be defined as "the beginning of the end.  Dec 31 is the last day of the year and many look with anticipation for the opportunity to push the reset button with the new year.  

The "25th" of December is glaring from the last page of the calendar.  This is where all of December's personalities, love and anticipation come to a head.  That date is what sets the pace and feelings for the entire month.  

One of my favorite things about December is the stores are full of decorations. I love shiny, glittery things and what better place to get a fix for that than the aisle with decorations.  I used to decorate a lot, now I am very practical about it.  I don't have the storage for the decorations for the 11 months they aren't used.  It seems as soon as the Halloween decorations come down people put up their Christmas lights and turn them on.  My lights go on after my birthday so often December 1. Another thing I enjoy is driving around and looking at Christmas lights.  There are some outstanding places in Brandon, and one looks like it came directly out of Chevy Chase's movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.  I can't image the work involved and of course the storage necessary for all of the lights.  

My outside decorations

For several years when I worked at Gainsborough, we would decorate the resident's doors.  The creativity was amazing and each year the community waited in anticipation for the "doors to be decorated".  All good things come to an end and one of the last years we did the doors, we did the theme "the Twelve days of Christmas".  It was truly spectacular.  My last year at the University, we had a door decorating contest.  Having the experience of decorating a door and knowing how to make sure the decorations stuck my peers put me in charge of our hallway. We decorated them as initial necklaces.  No shortage of glitz and glam down that hallway.   

Door decorating at the University

My office decorated as a necklace.

Historically, December would mean it was time to get busy doing the massive amount of Christmas baking.  Not so much for my age group but certainly my mom's age group and older.  Some items were only made at Christmas, like Christmas pudding and cake, mincemeat tarts and pies.  I do like both Christmas pudding and cake.  I also love fudge and caramel corn. Baking has now turned into more of appetizers, dips and items to eat with drinks as opposed to sweet things like in the past.  

I used to have my Christmas cards, letters and pictures ready to be sent by December 1.  I have lost that tradition, but I do notice lots of families still have a picture taken for sharing at Christmas.  What a great way for young families to keep in touch. 

December is an opportunity to fill up your cup of donating to those less fortunate.  Giving to a charity is the perfect place to buy a gift for someone on your list that is hard to buy for or needs nothing. There are so many things happening to make sure no child goes without.  I am not sure what is happening with Christmas Cheer since covid.  I do know the collection of toys is already happening.  The Wheat Kings have a teddy bear toss at one of their games.  Big Sisters, Big Brothers have a tree to draw names off of.   The Salvation Army has "Adopt a family program".  The list goes on with so many devoted organizations and volunteers.  

Something I wish was available is a tree to pick a senior's name to give them a gift, like they do for children. I understand London Drugs has a tree if you have that store in your community, sadly we do not. So many seniors have no one and that breaks my heart. One year when I was working on Long term care and Palliative, one student brought a Christmas card for each of the residents and patients.  We signed them and dropped them off at the bedside.  We sang Carols and we were greeted with such excitement.  The nurses thanked us after and said that card would be the only thing that some of those residents would receive for Christmas.  A very harsh reality for the students to understand.  

December can be a very hard month for many for several reasons.  The one that is most evident this year is the struggles families are having with the cost of living.  Sadly, gift giving has become an expectation. Feeling obliged to give a gift is hard at the best of times, especially if resources are low. 

There is so much on the market for kids of course they want everything.  It will go lovely with everything that they already have.  Something I think young parents are doing is purging their children's toys in preparation for all the new ones that will come at Christmas.  I am not sure how parents handle all of that. I read a neat tradition is for parents to write their child a letter every year at Christmas.  What a treasure for a child and to look back on as an adult. 

Christmas is never the same if your family has been disrupted.  Disruption can occur in many ways; loss of a family member is the most common. In any life changing event, life as you knew it gone and it will never be the same again.  Holidays are a big reminder of how things have changed.  Christmas is the hardest as it is so centered around family.  Memories come flooding back and people have various ways of coping with them.  Many just put on a brave face, put their focus elsewhere and the day passes.    

Some families are steeped in tradition, and that works for them.  I learned several years ago that I needed to implement "new traditions" into my Christmas.  I love new ideas and I found it really helped me.  We often get caught up in the "old" way or familiar way of celebrating.  New traditions often emerge when families are grieving a loss of a family member.  Whatever it takes to make Christmas tolerable at such a hard time, is what needs to be done.   

I am finding that Christmas is a much harder time for more people than we realize.  For a variety of reasons, Christmas is a difficult time for them.  For some it is the best time of the year, and they are so full of anticipation.  Many people are excited because it is a time to be together with their families.  Others say, "Christmas is for kids and once the kids are older it's not the same".  Often the comment is "I am glad when it is over".  Like everything in life, December is whatever we make it.  I do hope you can find some joy, excitement and contentment during the month and if nothing else think about the New Year fast approaching and resetting.