Friday, December 24, 2010

Enjoying the holidays. . .with family?

It's been said that one of the great oxymorons of all time is the phrase "Government Intelligence." And while that may be true, I find another phrase equally oxymoronic - or just moronic depending on your interpretation.

"Enjoying the holidays with family."

Really? Enjoying the holidays? With family??

That may be the case with the Waltons or the Ricardos or the Cunninghams, but around here lately it's more like a bad episode of "Roseanne."

Who doesn't talk to whom. Who WON'T talk to whom. Phony smiles. Phony embraces. Bad gifts. Or worse, no gifts at all.

Sometimes I have to wonder, who needs it? Maybe Mary and Joseph had the right idea. Travel off, on your own, with only your spouse and, as it turns out,your own child (work with me on this one!!). No visitors - at least not until 12 days later. No big feast. No fancy trappings. Just what really matters at the time.

Not every family is like mine - and I hope that's the case at your house. And we've tried it the other way too - nobody to visit on Christmas Eve. And there were nothing but complaints that way too.

So maybe the term "enjoying" takes on a different meaning in late December. Maybe "enjoying" really means more like "enduring." Because family is what family is - individuals, all with their own idiosyncracies, sharing the same space, be it physical or hypothetical, for as long as we can stand each other.

Enjoy your holidays - and, if possible, your family - and keep in touch. Just don't stay too long.