a different kind of christmas

When we first got together, Heidi and I made a pact: we would never leave home for Christmas. It was a simple thing, really, planned out so that we would never have to travel around from house to house on the big holiday. Of course it has come in handy ever since we had kids, too, as we have a tradition that says we go nowhere, and everyone knows it. So no going to Aunt Lucy’s, or cousin Merv’s, or anywhere else. If you want to see us on Christmas, you have to come to us. It’s the perfect scenario.

We aren’t going anywhere today, either, but this year feels a wee bit different from past years. Probably because I go nowhere anyway anymore, and the kids and Heidi go very few places, so being home isn’t as special as it’s been in the past. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still very much enjoying it, but I think Alexa said it best:

“It just doesn’t feel like Christmas, except that we still get to open gifts.”

She’s so right. Yes, we opened gifts this morning, but it wasn’t the same, and I can’t blame it on the pandemic either. Well, not entirely on the pandemic anyway. You see, we have a teenager and a tween in the house now, and feelings about Santa Claus have changed, which means a shift in everything else. The presents were under the tree for a couple days, because they come from–shhhhh– us, not Santa Claus. No special wrapping this year from the North Pole. No getting up super early and bouncing on our bed ready to see what special gifts the elves were somehow able to craft.

It’s funny, too, because I was the one who originally didn’t want to have the kids be “believers,” and I’m the one who feels the most like we lost something since they don’t believe anymore. Who would have seen that coming? Certainly not me. And I think that has something, at least this year, to do with the pandemic. We all want a little magic right about now, especially this year, and yet this coincided with some magic being lost around the time it is most needed. Wow.

So it’s a different kind of Christmas, and we’re probably watching Lethal Weapon this afternoon, because, as Alexa put it:

“Who needs Christmas movies on Christmas? We need some ACTION.”

Yes. Yes, we do.