Okay, so I promised I would talk a little about holiday decorations, so here it is in a nutshell:
We don’t.
No, that’s right. We don’t put up anything at all. If you came to our house on Christmas Eve, it would look like any other day of the year.
Here’s the backstory on that: the husband has decided, for whatever reason (and believe me, I have tried to wheedle it out of him, and been stonewalled every time) that he does not care to celebrate the holidays. He will, if I tell him what I want, buy me a present. But he insists he does not want anything, and does not want a stocking, and does not want a Christmas dinner, etc. etc. In the past few years, I have coerced him into doing our electronic Christmas cards (since he is better at online publishing than I am), but he will not sign a single hard card. I do not know the reason for all this. It saddens me beyond belief, because I really like Christmas. But I am not going to fight over it any more.
For a few years, I took it upon myself to put up a tree and other decorations. I would spend an entire day decking the halls and hauling out the holly. All I got out of Himself was a shrug and a “huh.” So, as I was the only one enjoying it, it soon paled, and when I had to spend another entire day taking it down and cleaning it up, I decided it wasn’t worth it.
So here’s the deal. Behind his back, I do celebrate. I do secret things that make me feel like I am carrying out the true spirit of the birth of Jesus. I listen to carols, talk to friends and play Santa for folks that need it. It’s sad, but it’s the way I cope. If I could change his mind, I would, and we would celebrate again together, but until then…
We don’t.
Do you?