This entry was originally published in 2022.
The pressure to find joy, to bring joy at the holidays is tremendous. And quite a source of stress.
My 4 y.o. C. has been gift-wrapping bubble wrap this afternoon. He has informed me that “everybody loves popping pop-pops” (bubble wrap). DH received a huge amount of bubble wrap packing in the corporate gift boxes sent to the house, and C. has been rolling it up and putting it in gift bags as Christmas gifts.
C. is, essentially, gifting joy. Whether the recipients will feel the same is another story. But C.’s got the right idea, at any rate.
I, however, have failed to bring joy today.
This morning, I had taken half a day off to go with my boys to see Santa. They are young enough that this is really exciting. But T. awoke with a fever, headache, off food, and cough.
So DH took 4 y.o. C. in to meet Santa. T. and I sat on a couch and watched a Muppet’s Christmas Carol. We stayed home. (I do want to thank Santa who was kind enough to video chat to T. and send a small present home with his brother.)
Staying home did not spark joy. Not at all. Certainly not with me. My planned family morning out was now ruined. And the number of Santa visits you get as a parent are too few. Certainly not with T. who – despite his protests that he was “fine” – was actually too miserable to do more than lay on the couch.
It was not easy, it was not joyful – but it was, unfortunately, the right thing to do.
This Christmas, we all feel pressured to feel joy. To bring joy. To create joy.
Sometimes, we will get it right. Sometimes, we will get it wrong. Even when it’s not perfect, it’s enough.
But if you are very lucky, someone loves you enough to find you some bubble wrap-– and you’d be surprised how de-stressing it is too pop all that bubble wrap.
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