IIt's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you define "hustle and bustle."
Visiting with friends and family can be a good thing, while navigating crowded parking lots and malls can test your limits of holiday cheer.
When stress starts to build up, it's helpful to try to remember the best parts of the season, and they usually involve family.
As an adult with no kids and far away from home, the holidays have become hohum in the past several years.
However, a few years ago things changed when the miracle of twin nieces arrived. Making a point of returning home to Ontario over the holidays after they were born, it became apparent that infants really don't know anything about Christmas. Neither do one-year-olds.
However, last year, the twins were two years old and things finally got interesting. They started to notice the decorations, the colours, the cookies and the wreaths.
They wanted to play in the snow and watch other kids sit with Santa at the mall (they wouldn't go near him themselves). They carried around their nutcrackers (a gift from their grandma) and proudly displayed their new holiday pyjamas.
They weren't blown away by the toys they received. At two years old, they had no concept of money or gifts. Relatives arrived at their home and gave them things. That seemed normal to them.
But although they still didn't understand anything about Christmas, they knew something different was going on.
During my visit home for the holidays, I was in awe of the twins in general and filled with joy watching them react to the various holiday happenings.
The sweetest memory I have from that stay was when the twins regularly talked about "beebee lights."
They would point out the house window, or the car window, or the patio window, and yell excitedly: "Beebee lights!" I would react with a feigned "Wow!" or "Oh, look at that!" but I had no idea what they were talking about. I finally had to ask my sister what they were saying.
Across the street from them lived a young couple with a toddler and a new baby.
My sister and her husband talked about "the baby" and the twins had seen "the baby" on many occasions. They referred to her as "the beebee," their version of "baby." My sister explained that when the couple put up their colourful Christmas lights outside, the girls were fascinated by the display of the "baby's lights." From then on all Christmas lights to them were "beebee lights."
Now, when the Christmas season starts to feel contrived, and the dark and cold weather contribute to a dampening of spirits, I look around for some "beebee lights" and am instantly filled with holiday cheer.
