After the meal, we settle down in the living room and unwrap presents that we actually bought ourselves before handing them over to the gift giver a couple days prior to Christmas. I always do my best to feign surprise and slap on a smile while someone snaps pictures.
But this year I decided to rediscover the Christmas spirit. I was inspired to this end after flipping my journal over to the very first entry: December 25th, 1999. I had scribbled over five pages with excited musings about all the wonderful things about Christmas; the contents of my stocking, gingerbread cookies, my new N64, etc, etc.
Yearning to feel the Christmas spirit once again, I threw myself into holiday activities. I went to two Secret Santa parties and then carolled for charity in a beautiful Victorian neighbourhood in Dundas. The families in those Dundas homes would open the door, look at us suspiciously, and then break out into smiles when they realized we wanted to sing for them. It was almost always a happy response. In return for "Silent Night" or "Jingle Bells", they would take our information pamphlets, donate money or even, in one case, serve us giant fresh pretzels from their oven.
I also decided to put the "surprise" back into gift-giving, which involved a very successful trip to Walmart. One hundred dollars and eight cents later, I had a box of dark Swiss chocolates and "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" for my grandmother, a set of cherry candles for my mom, a warm fleece blanket for my sister, and special collectors' DVD box-sets for my uncles. My dad normally refuses gifts, but I bought him a box of cashews anyway. I wrapped each gift nicely and included a hand written card - although they were pretty simple, they didn't fail to delight.
Unfortunately I can't say that my own presents were much of a surprise: a gift certificate to Chapters, a fat check, a sweater, socks and a $40 pen that exploded all over my hands. And yet I'm still glad that I put serious effort into injecting some spirit into the holidays. Because, in the end, Christmas is what you make of it. It could be a cold and lifeless affair, or it really could be the most wonderful time of the year... even for an ex-Grinch like me.
