A Mission to Find the Christmas Spirit

Two nights ago, I rushed to my daughter's school to see her perform in her school's annual Christmas program. She's a first year drummer in the school band, and out of the three drummers in the band, I hear she's the best. So she was extra excited about this performance.

So I was a little late getting there - it was rainy that night, it was during rush hour, and I had just finished shooting a commercial at a production studio. I missed the first two songs she performed, but I was able to catch the tail end of one song she was the drummer for and all of the song "Up on a Housetop," which she did great in. And besides her drumming in the band, I watched the entire play she was singing and dancing in.

The play itself was about a bunch of kids going to the doctors (Dr. Newheart) because they have CDD - the Christmas Day Dumps. I thought it was ironic that this is what the play was about, because, in real life, my daughter was actually experiencing something very similar, though she calls hers CTD - the Christmas Time Depression. Sigh.

I explained to my little sweet pea, that there are a lot of people who experience the blues around Christmas time, but I wasn't quite sure why she was. She had not lost any close members of the family for her, and besides I've been aware that it hasn't been feeling like the holidays for her so I've been putting in extra effort to create a holiday ambience. It's not very different from what I do every year for her - but this year I've just added a pinch more.

This morning, though, I had to face the facts. My daughter (11) is feeling the Christmas blues for some reason and I did everything I could think of to get her in the spirit of the holiday:

I went out and bought her a flocked Christmas tree.

We decorated the tree and the rest of the house with ornaments garland and lights.

I play Christmas carols everyday in the car on our way to school and on our way home.

I bought eggnog (which she doesn't care for all that much for).

We went around neighborhoods (on 3 different occasions) to look at Christmas lights.

I attended her school Christmas performance.

She has gifts piled under the tree.

She has watched a bunch of Christmas movies and specials on TV.

She even saw "Santa" when policemen came to our neighborhood in Tustin dressed as Santa and helpers (not that we've actually celebrated Santa Clause, but still...).

At one point I was handing her candy canes before sending her off to school.

She goes to a religious private school, so she is quite aware what the season is about...

I'm out of ideas! Boy, I thought I had this Christmas thing all under control, but I have been terribly wrong. So starting today, I'm on a five day mission to help her feel Christmas. My state has been so desperate that I've went onto MySpace to solicit ideas from all of my "friends" there! This is a tall order because my daughter is stubborn and somewhat pessimistic girl, but you know me. I'm always up for a challenge.