The Stress Of Christmas

I am going to toot my own horn here:
Christmas Does Not Stress Me Out.

Let me say it again: Christmas does not stress me out. Why? Because why should it?

I know people from Back East will read this and scoff, but Portland saw the most snow it has seen in 40 years. We had 10 inches in my back yard alone-it blew all our minds and resulted in not only a white Christmas (sing it Bing) but also in a lot of house bound people-myself included. We aren't use to this so no trips to the grocery store, no last minute shopping, and no mail for a week ( I got my last Christmas present today).
What this taught me is that Christmas spaghetti is just as good as a Christmas turkey-family was here.
Getting a present three or four days after the fact is fine-the person who gave it to you still cares.
The people who were at my house understood that with a new baby and a three-year-old, clean is a subjective term.
The smile on my son's face was not determined by everything being "perfect".
I sent out 70 Christmas cards. I got about 20 in return and two phone calls and that suited me just fine-I still had a great time sending them out.
Christmas movies are great by myself, with a crowd, in the rain, and in the snow.

Maybe I am lazy, maybe I am clueless but I truly believe that the holiday season is only as stressful as we let it be. Maybe Santa wouldn't serve pizza for Christmas dinner, have a spotless bathroom, and throw a holiday party for 100 elves with nary a hitch, but for me some weird food and a little dirt for the holidays means I get to have just as much fun as everybody else, and that is what makes the memories happy.

A Happy Stress-Free time for everyone.