Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas this year is for others to stop rushing it.
Every year, I feel myself getting tugged along on a holiday roller coaster I didn't even stand in line to get on. Sure, I want to listen to Christmas songs on the radio as I drive to work. Of course, I want to watch Christmas Lifetime movies late at night when nothing else is on. Who doesn't want to enjoy homes decorated with festive lights and a jolly blow-up Santa?
I just don't want to do it yet.
Any more, Christmas festivities all seem to get jumbled up with turkeys and cornucopias until it's just one big mess of something not so special.
The merriment and joy peaks before the last drumstick has even hit the table.
I keep hearing people talking about how annoying it is when their neighbor puts up Christmas lights before the weather changes.
I'm going to suggest telling them, "You know you can still do that, but you don't have to plug them in, right?"
Or how the store shelves are stocked with red and green soon after the leftover back-to-school backpacks are put away.
Since when did Dec. 25 come before Nov. 24 on the calendar?
Can't we all as a collective community vow not to rush the anticipation of time spent with family and friends for each holiday?
Take a breath, people, I want to shout! Enjoy the moments as they come one at a time. Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings and ease into your seasonal sweatpants on a full belly.
And then on Nov. 25 throw tinsel to the winds! Put up the tree and the lights. Start checking your lists. Check 'em twice even. All I'm asking is instead of double fisting the holidays, we savor and digest each one separately as time ticks away another year.
Oh, and by the way, my mother wants to put out a reminder: The 12 days of Christmas do not end Christmas day. It's just the beginning.
xoxo,
Amanda Gabeletto
Altoona Mirror reporter
