the season.

I'm a sucker for the holiday season.

From October to December, I am a happy person.

Then January comes and it's still freaking cold and ugh, but this isn't about that.

I am not a fan of going straight from Halloween to Christmas. I can't stand how the stores, the media and even the radio completely get hyped up on the materialistic side (let's be real, that's all it is) of Christmas the minute Halloween is over. I think it's hugely important to focus on Thanksgiving; the time to be thankful and remember just how blessed we are.

For me, Thanksgiving gets me in the right mind frame for Christmas. It's a time to slow down, to focus on family and to focus on what is good and right in our worlds.

Then it's time for Christmas, which is why my tree goes up the minute day after Thanksgiving.

I love Christmas. Love, love, love it.

I love buying gifts, visiting family, making plans, traipsing around looking for a tree. I love it all. However, more often than not, I wake up on the twenty sixth of December with a let down feeling. You might know what I'm talking about.

I spend the entire month of December searching for the perfect gift, making sure I got each person an "equal" present, stressing over how much money I'm spending and it makes for a stressful month. So stressful.

This year, BG is older and is more focused on me and what I'm doing. I do NOT want her to get the wrong idea of what Christmas is about.

I've said time and time again that I didn't want a child who wanted every thing at every store that they could get their hands on. I naively thought that avoiding tv and such could cut that out. Ha. Then I had a child and I found out that you cannot avoid that all together. If I could, my child wouldn't scream out "ELMO!!!" every time she saw that little minx in a store.

But if she sees me running through stores like a mad man or spending money I shouldn't on a gift that won't even be remembered next year; well, that's a sucky example huh?

You know what I remember about Christmases from being a child?

I remember one gift; twin dolls that laughed when together and cried when they were apart. Not because it was a gift, but because my brother and I were obsessed with them and everyone in the family played with them with me.

I remember Christmas dinners with my entire family. I can still hear the swinging door coming into my grandparent's dining room as we all gathered to eat.

I remember peeking over the banister to see my parents putting out the "Santa" gifts and doing it together and quietly so we wouldn't wake.

I remember sitting quietly listening to Christmas music as I waited on my family to wake up.

I remember a Christmas scavenger hunt with my Mom, Dad, and little brother.

I remember laying on the couch as my Dad laughed hysterically at the twenty seventh showing of that awful movie TBS plays all. day. long.

I remember a rug my brother got one year that was a "town" for cars to drive on that we played with non-stop for days.

I remember baking cookies with my parents and getting tins together to take to the neighbors with my Mom.

I remember Christmas Eve candlelight services and then dinner with our neighbors.

I remember singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus every year before gifts were touched.

It's never been about the gift. It's the time. It's about the memories.

This Christmas is an odd one. There is a lot going on around here. My brother is overseas, my Grandma is sick and other members of my family are dealing with things of their own. I have no idea what this season is going to hold for my family.

But I do know this... I'll be slowing down a bit. I'll be baking cookies with my little one. I'll be watching holiday movies with my husband. I'll be reading The Grinch and watching Charlie Brown. I'll be traipsing through the woods taking pictures of my girl on the hunt for our tree. I may make a wreath. I'll be decorating my house. I'll be focusing on my family and the true meaning of Christmas.

Will I stress out some? Well yes, because that's what I do. But I'm making sure that I'm an example of what the season should be to my little one.

It's time to slow it down....