Holiday Exhaustion

ESSAY | PROMPTLY WRITTEN

Who could enjoy the season with all these activities?

Preparations for the holidays always began after Halloween in my family. My siblings and I were tasked with cleaning duties — scrubbing the walls, shelves, vacuuming and shampooing the carpets, and cleaning our mother’s copious amount of bric-a-brac that dotted the entire house. This cleaning and packing away the normal decorations usually took several days and then we’d start decorating for Thanksgiving. Out would come all the fall decor and the large wicker turkey that was the centerpiece in the living room.

For us kids, it seemed like Thanksgiving came and went way too quickly. We never had traditional dinners. Mom would make a large pot of beef stew, homemade rolls, a few pies, and lemon pound cake for my dad. He and my brother would trot off hunting early on Thanksgiving morning and sometimes wouldn’t return until after sundown. So Thanksgiving was never anything too special.

The very next day, we packed away the fall decor, and out came all of the Christmas decorations. Tons of them! Christmas was mom’s favorite holiday. The entire house became a winter wonderland. White puffy stuffing decorated all the mantels and tables in the house, with the exception of the kitchen table. Then came all the ceramics — Santa and Mrs. Clause, snowpeople, elves, reindeer, and candy dishes all over the place. We always had an artificial tree because my sister was allergic to evergreens. The tree would be dressed in lights, tinsel, fancy bulbs, and a few handmade pieces we kids got to contribute. A white, cotton skirt would be spread under the tree, and along with the presents, mom would place her nativity set under there.

Dad was tasked with the outdoor decorations, and he always went wild with them. Lights and silver tinsel were strung up, outlining the entire house. Spray snow decorated all the windows. The front door would be wrapped up like a huge package. And life-size Santa and Mrs. Clause sat in chairs on the front porch.

All of this was done in a frenzy over a weekend so that mom could enjoy the decorations for well over a month. Sadly, it seemed like mom spent more money on decorating the house than she did on purchasing us presents, but…

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