Joy to the World

by Carrie Pålsson

I don't know about you, but as an adult I rarely find Christmas to be a joyful time. Spending money I don't have on presents people don't want doesn't make my heart sing. Being jostled and shoved by a million other people who are just as stressed as I am doesn't make for a magical "winter wonderland" moment.

By the time the big day rolls around I'm tired and ready for it to be over, but there's one more "joy" to live through--family. I grew up in Dysfunction Junction, so instead of pasting on happy smiling faces and wearing matching candy cane pajamas, my family fights. Granny gets bent out of shape if we don't do a cartwheel when we open our Franklin Mint hand-painted Liberty dollars. She tells my sister she looks pretty, "just like a streetwalker," then cries when my sister takes offense to being called a hooker. My dad gets drunk and loud and eats all the pie before anyone else can enjoy it. My mom gets so stressed out she leaves the house in a huff and we don't see her for several hours.

It's a joy, all right.

This year, though, all of that has changed. I'm walking around with a silly smile on my face and "Jingle Bells" on my lips. After several years of disastrous Christmas celebrations that end with hurt feelings and disappointments, I've discovered the secrets of a happy holiday season.

1. Have a baby in the family. My baby will be two months old this Christmas. It's too early for him to enjoy the activities, but I plan on dressing him in all the silliest red velvet outfits I can find in the days leading up to Christmas and taking lots of pictures. New babies make everything happy.
2. Don't visit your family. Everyone feels sorry for me because I am not able to spend Christmas with my family this year, but I am about ready to do a back flip of joy. I will miss my mom, but I won't miss the drama. It will just be me, my husband and our baby. It may be lonely, but no one is going to open the back door and throw her gifts into the snow for no apparent reason (seriously, my grandma does this every other year). I am anticipating a quiet Christmas day with lots of snuggling, cuddling, and pictures of my kid stuck in a Christmas stocking.
3. Simplify, simplify, simplify when it comes to Christmas presents! This has really been the key to joyful celebration for me. I'm a perfectionist by nature and have spent way too many years agonizing over the perfect gift for each and every person on my list, only to be disappointed when I open my gifts and find books I'll never read, clothes I'll never wear, and bizarre As Seen on TV products that I'll never use. I talked to my family, and we agreed that we'd stop giving gifts to the siblings/cousins/kids over 18 and focus our attention on the plethora of babies that have descended upon our family. Shopping for baby toys is much less stressful than finding that perfect gift for the 22-year-old male who has everything. I've also given up trying to please the adults. I looked online and found gifts that no one can argue with--mainly gourmet food from Swiss Colony. Shopping online also meant that I missed the insane holiday crowds. I was able to buy my dad's new shirts in the time it took to microwave a baked potato.

Color me cynical, but this is the most joyful Christmas season I can remember in years. I've done away with the self-imposed stress and life has suddenly become a whole lot easier. The only problem: my husband is sick to death of my stirring rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."