MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! All the presents have been
opened, all the wrapping paper torn and scattered about, the Christmas
breakfast of caramel buns and Polish sausage (from Kramarczuk's, yum!)
eaten, and now is the time for relaxing and kids playing happily,
until we head to MIL's for Christmas dinner (and more presents). There
we will bring along the Polish Christmas traditions of throwing
peanuts-in-the-shell at relatives as we walk in the door, shouting
Polish greetings, just as my own Grandma and Grandpa Jarosz always did
every Christmas Day. The kids are looking forward to that! We will
also bring along the Christmas wafer, Oplatki, to share. Everyone
takes a piece of this thin, communion-wafer type bread and then you go
around the room, saying Peace or Merry Christmas to each person as you
offer your wafer for them to take a small piece and you take and eat a
small piece of theirs. I love these old Polish customs, and can feel
the spirits of my Grandma and Grandpa and others long gone looking
down and smiling at the memories and rituals they helped make.

It was so very nice to see some of my ideas about having a simpler
Christmas come to pass. There was still excess, but one idea was that
we in the family should make gifts for each other, instead of DH and I
taking the kids out shopping for them to buy some cheapo junk to give
each other. At first they were dubious, like it wasn't fair, and
*they* couldn't really make anything, but after little speeches from
me about gifts from the heart and thinking of the other person and
thinking "outside the box" (or as younger DS likes to say, "outside
the bun" thanks to commercials!)-- well, after all that, their little
creative minds took hold, and they all got into it. Coupons were the
popular gift, like DD's coupon to her little brother for one night to
come into her bed to read stories and play stufed animals and such, or
older DS's gift to his sister of playing a game with her without
"being evil" (he adores being evil during board games!). DD and DS
also each made a costume for their little brother's fave stuffed
animal, sewing in a locked room with hushed voices. Ah yes, this is
what I wanted! The secret gifts and delighted whispers of "this is
what I'm making for ___". It was all very rich and rewarding, the
power and joy of knowing you can make someone else happy with just a
little effort and thought and your creativity!

I was totally exhausted last night, worn out from a day of cooking and
weeks of preparations. But now I can just relax, watch a Christmas
movie or read a new book, go over to MIL's later where she always
spoils us rotten. We'll see how that goes... tomorrow is the 1st
anniversary of FIL's death, so that will be hard.

Here's to a beautiful holiday to all, peace for the world, healing for
those who hurt or mourn, and the spaciousness of heart for all of us
to cherish life and those we love.