I'm taking back Christmas

You know, for several years now I've grown more and more leery of Christmas. The cost. The obligations. The family pressures. The mega marketing. The strident music that's more and more about partying, drinking and pork and less and less about a little baby shivering in the hay.

It got to the point where even thinking about Christmas brought on a sickening feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. I used to find every excuse to get out of as much as I could. What I couldn't get out of, I dreaded, had nightmares about, and trudged reluctantly toward. Then I'd come away grumbling.

No more. Having children who are just about old enough to know that something special's going on has changed everything. For their sake, I've decided that I'm taking back Christmas. I won't let the unsavoury elements get me down. Henceforth, here is my Christmas pledge to myself:

• I am not changing curtains or cushion covers. I am not painting or varnishing anything. My house is fine as it is and Christmas will come and go whether the house smells of new stuff or not.
• I will not buy presents I don't feel like buying, just because I suspect someone is going to get me something, or because it would be rude not to. If you get me something, and I got you nothing, I'm going to say a grateful "Thank you," and leave it at that.
• For those people I am getting presents for, I will not buy ashtrays, vases, or body lotion/perfume/hand soap sets. I will buy things that I think they want and need, even if that is something as mundane as a pair of pot holders.
• For those who will appreciate the gesture, I am making a contribution to a charity in their name, rather than buy one more useless thing they'll thank me for and never use.
• The kids (others more than mine) will get toys. Christmas is all about them, and they'll damn well enjoy it.
• I will not spend one minute in the presence of someone I don't like just because I feel obliged to. I will not pay courtesey visits to people who manage ask me at the very second I don't have a plausible excuse not to. I will not invite anyone over unless I really want them here. I will not make a single phone call to someone I don't like just because not doing so will piss them off.

Starting this year, I'm doing Christmas my way, for my children and for me. I loved it as a child, and I'm going to make sure my children have only happy memories of it. I'm taking it back.