Merry Whatever...Christmas 2010

Christmas for me has been a tricky time. I never pretended to enjoy it because it was always a holiday that divided a family of both the very religious and the very not. The Christian contingency always loved to skirt the present-giving day and shunned it as commercialization which meant that we were always the kids without a shiny bike to ride on Boxing Day. Now that I am a mother the meaning is completely different. My son has no idea about the meaning of Christmas (he goes to a Jewish preschool and mistook a Maori statue of the assembly of the Gods of Waitangi in New Zealand as a Menorah)... I love his creative little mind.

My father died a few years ago within a week of Christmas. I cannot approach the observance of December 25th without a certain sadness as I quietly grieve for one of the few connections I have to a family, somewhere...anywhere.

I have no idea about the future but for today, Christmas for my son was one of the first observed times where he spent time with his cousins of similar age. We live in a different state so this was incredible special for him. Nearly four generations of his father's ancestry were amongst the luncheon and I captured the moment in this little film. This is a little gift to my son's and his family.

What is your Christmas like?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO3_8kaRiQ