|
|
CTC Readers' Poll:
|
|
|
"What would make the holidays perfect for you
and your family this year? Quiet, simple gatherings with
family to reflect upon the real meaning of the holidays –
offering thanks for our many blessings at Thanksgiving,
celebrating the birth of Christ the Lord at Christmas, and
looking forward to opportunities in the coming year at New
Year’s Eve." ~ Cathy
"I used to love the holidays but at this point in my life it seems a little depressing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Lord and that part is uplifting but my boys are practically grown and I don't even know what they like anymore. My oldest has been dating the same girl for 7 years so they go off a lot, my middle son is in college 4 hours away and my 'baby' who is 18 has his own world. I miss my 'babies'. I would love to go back to when they were smaller, to see their faces light up when they notice the simple things. This year it looks like we will be giving them gasoline gift cards and cash. Maybe I will have to go out and get them a 'toy/ after all, just for old times' sakes. You better enjoy them while they are young. I know it was just yesterday when I dressed them as 'Super Grover' for Halloween." ~ Brenda
"Personally, I think the best
thing we could do for the holidays would be to leave all of our
day-to-day stuff behind. It is a rare opportunity to bring the
whole family together for a week. While we enjoy the time
together, it would be extra nice if no one was calling in to work
or taking cell phone calls, ducking out to get on the computer or
check email, taking time away to work on something that has to be
done next week, or just worrying about things that are coming up
after the holidays. For one week, I would like to put our
other life on hold and really 'live in the moment' and enjoy our
time to the fullest. "To have the 1st floor of my house cleaned up for the family: 1. A good working kitchen area - My stove is falling apart - literally, and both our refrigerators prefer to freeze the food instead of refrigerate it. The upright freezer was damaged over the summer and hasn't been replaced. The floor is dropping by the sink causing most of the cabinets on the floor to be unusable. The counter where the sink is has been splitting in two. 2. Re-organize the Dining room. We have 10 children (ages 27-3) and 7 grandchildren (ages 7 and under) + significant others. We need lots of room, and I can't get the 'big' dining room table out from under the clutter and china cabinet to make it a useful item . . . except as a serving counter. I would love to have the table available with 6-8 chairs that match, (we only have two chairs for it now) and the china cabinet (that my dad made) put on a base so it's freestanding again. At my mom's house it was put on an island that was built into the middle of her kitchen area. 3. I would love to have the living room cleaned up. We have cabinets in there to replace the kitchen cabinets, and a large snake cage that needs to be repaired so our snake has room to move again. There's lots of floor space to the first floor, but we don't have room due to the clutter. Thanksgiving is the traditional Turkey, ham and all the fixings. My husband cooks the meats, I cook the deserts, cookies, and candies and we work together to prepare the different vegetable dishes served. Our Christmas is celebrated with a Mexican taco buffet due to the family members coming and going all day. This was started in the days of visitation to the divorced parent and the children wanting to spend a little time with each parent during this holiday. Christmas lunch is served by a specified time. Then anyone that can't come to that just drops by and fixes themselves a snack and visits for a little while before going to their other family get-togethers. The icing on the cake would be a properly working heating system for the whole house. So we didn't have to use Kalor gas heaters. I find it hard to do all the clean-up myself because I work outside the home 9-10 hrs a day. After that I go to my husband's business -- a Christian based Karate school -- and help out or take lessons there til late in the evening. Then I come home and take care of putting the children to bed, trying to work a little on the 'daily mess'. I find myself staying up till 11:30-12:00 at night and I have to be at work by 07:00 in the morning. I've had the idea that I could put things in piles in the yard, like on that one TV show. You know in the Keep, Give Away, and Trash piles but here in Kansas it seems like there is always the threat of rain every few days. No sooner would I get started than I would have to haul it all back inside due to the weather. We love to go garage sale shopping, and yes, I have dumpster dived in my life too. I found a dresser for the kids room when I really needed it, and recently a got a rocker chair out of the dumpster for my sewing room to replace the La-z-boy the children broke. Tell me that wasn't a fun thing to haul down 2 flights of stairs and around the house to the trash bin. . Well that would be my dream
Holiday - a clean and serviceable house with properly working
appliances." ~ Maggie
"One thing this year that
would make Christmas special for me and my family would be
that my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren could
come here to be with us. They moved to Rhode Island just
before our newest grandson was born. If they got to come home
to Texas, we would get to see our grandson for the first
time." ~ Mickie
'I have 'managed' our
households' December for decades now. By this, I mean I have
taken the regular schedule of all the people in the household
and cancelled regular appointments, switched any I could and
basically freed up the month. This left room for the parts of
the season that used to feel rushed and squeezed in between
the normal dental appointments, any regular medical
appointments, whatever.
People think I'm odd when
scheduling things in November that I specify, 'No appointments
in December, but put us down for January.' There just isn't
much that HAS to happen in December.
I've also asked people in the
household (have had a home for teens for years, so the kiddos
changed periodically) what they would like to have be part of
the holiday season. Very interesting exercise! I learned
a lot about each person this way. We tried to
incorporate something from everyone's list which usually were
totally possible things; ie; caroling, cookie baking,
tree trimming parties, food drives, serving at shelters, etc.
I think our holidays have
become ours, not the retailers' after we began to concentrate
on how we wanted December to look for us!" ~ Contrary1
"What would make my
holiday? Jesus coming again! If not that, then cloning myself
so that I can see all my family, spread out across 4 states,
open their Christmas presents. Ever since we took the
Operation Christmas Child concept (a shoebox for each person,
which I slowly fill all year long), I think the family really
looks forward to what interesting things they'll find in their
boxes. Or, if neither of those are possible, I'd settle for
winning the lottery, LOL!" ~ Emily in Ohio
"My husband is in retail and Christmas is THE most stressful time of the year for our family. It starts earlier and earlier each year, but usually by mid-October he is fully engrossed in Christmas. He works for a major craft/home décor chain and they have a timetable that must be adhered to so they can ‘get the most’ out of Christmas. We have been married for nearly 23 years and have had only ONE Christmas that I would call great! The pressure they put on retail stores to sell, sell, sell is terrible! It takes all the fun out of Christmas for us. Because he can work 60+ hrs a week during the months of November and December, I have to do everything alone: Christmas gift buying and wrapping, church and neighborhood parties, decorating the house and the tree. By the time Christmas gets fun for most of us, he is so ‘over it’ that he doesn’t want to see another tree, snowman, poinsettia or ornament. I guess my wish would be that people be nicer to those that ‘serve’ us in retail establishments. They have families they want to be home with too. I also wish that companies would just back off from trying to get ‘the almighty dollar’ and just remember the Almighty God and Savior we celebrate during this time of the year.
"I want my adult kids and
teen child to go to church with us. Our church has a
Thanksgiving morning service, and Christmas Eve service also. I
would also like them to be grateful for what God has blessed them
with. Sigh...kids..." ~ LMB
"Last year was the first
year my husband, our 5 children and I spent together. We went
a little overboard with the gift giving to the kids. This
year, we have a baby due right before Christmas. We have
already told the kids that Christmas will not be the same this
year. We have decided that each child will receive 2 or 3
presents and we will put our focus more on the real reason for
Christmas...Christ and our devotion to him!" ~ Melisa in
Illinois
"If I could have anything to
make my holiday perfect it would be to have my in-laws live
closer! Trying to see everyone stresses me out and it would make
my holidays much easier if they lived close by. BUT God is good
and perfect, so we do the best to work it out each year and we are
always blessed by the time spent with family! Besides would I
really want them living closer for the other 11 months of the
year? :) " ~ Annie
"An A+ Holiday? My whole family would show up for our family Christmas - brothers, sisters, their children, grandchildren. Everyone would show Christ's love to each other during the one day a year we get together. My husband's children would desire to spend time with their Dad at Christmas, and they would come to Christ. I wouldn't gain any weight this Christmas!" ~ Chris
Editor's Note: Thanks to all these readers who took time to write! |
Home
Products and Resources
Speaking Engagements Nancy's
Itinerary |