How to Get into the Holiday Spirit for Christmas

I am pretty much a scrooge. I buy gift cards rather than gifts, and try my best to ignore the holidays. This includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. However, this year I am in a bind. I have something I never had before and will be celebrating the holidays, whether I want to or not.

My oldest son and his family have returned home to New Mexico. This means I have a grandson and granddaughter to spoil. While this alone has helped me to catch the spirit of the season, it is hard to change after practically ignoring the holidays for so many years.

I will definitely stick to the gift cards as gifts. I actually hate shopping and I figure the parents know more about what is appropriate for their kids and what sizes of clothes they wear. I will have to get into the spirit by way of having Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for the invasion of the family of kids.

Get into the Holiday Spirit by Singing Along With Christmas Carols:

How can anyone remain a scrooge when they are singing a Christmas carol? One thing that does not matter is if you celebrate the Christian portion of Christmas or just the holiday in general. There are literally thousands of jaunty and thoughtful Christmas carols out there to choose from. Pick out your favorite songs and sing along with them. If you cannot remember the words, not to worry, the lyrics can be found on line and there are hundreds of recordings to help you recall those forgotten pieces of poetry.

Get into the Holiday Spirit by Sending Christmas Cards:

I have always sent out Christmas greetings to family and friends. I use to hate the task but found several ways to make it much less painful to sit down and write out a bunch of Holiday greetings. I have also found the best time to do this is the day after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Black Friday. This way, I can avoid the mad hassle and hustle and bustle of the scrambling crowds at Walmart on Black Friday and instead, work my way through leftover ham and a pile of Holiday greetings to spread the Christmas cheer.

Get into the Holiday Spirit by Buying a Christmas Tree and Decorating:

As a young girl, my favorite part of the Holiday season was going out into the mountains and bringing home a Christmas tree. The smell of a fresh cut tree would fill the entire house and the great outdoors and Mother Nature would prevail heralding the holiday season. This year, with all of the types of Christmas trees to choose from, I will settle for one we can plant at the ranch after the season is over.

Decorating the Christmas tree will be a family thing. Everyone is planning on coming over the first weekend in December, and I will pull out the old home-made Christmas ornaments as well as help the grandkids to make some more. I feel that revising the family tradition of stringing popcorn and making paper chains is something to share with this next generation.

Even though I will be doing my best to enjoy the holiday season this year, I will still be looking forward to my personal favorite holiday: Superbowl Sunday, it is still better than Christmas to me.