Holidays Are Fun When You Are Poor

It’s the holiday season again. Once again we are inundated with red and green colored everything, cinnamon-scented scenery, and ringing bells. As we cruise the aisles of shopping malls, the sounds of the season assault our eardrums. For some this is pleasant. Others, not so much.

As a child, I looked forward to the holiday season. Our Thanksgiving was a large dinner which included all the traditional foods. It wasn’t the turkey that I eagerly awaited. It was the pickles and olives. They seldom were in the refrigerator. But,  if they were, we were not allowed to eat them at will. They were for holidays only.

After Thanksgiving, the real fun began for us. We were poor, but we had love. Giving gifts usually didn’t include getting to shop for our loved ones. Instead, we made our presents from scratch. There is no monetary competition when all the gifts are handmade.

Today, those are precious memories and well-earned lessons. While we understood that other children would be gettings things we wouldn’t, we still knew that our gifts came from love. It taught us that love isn’t about things, and money and who can pay us more for our affection.

The Most Beautiful Tree

When Dan and I first celebrated the holidays together in our own house, we were still poor. Neither of us had in our possession ornaments for a tree. He didn’t care if we had a tree. I did. He did have a stand for a natural tree. For me, he went out and cut down a tree to set up in our house.

I used to crochet pretty regularly and had yarns in all the appropriate colors. Also, I was good with my imagination. That year all the ornaments on the tree were homemade as well. There were snowmen of cotton balls with paper hats glued on and yarn hangers. I had figured out a way to make little men by wrapping yarn around a piece of cardboard, then cutting and tying it appropriately. Popcorn was cheap enough. I strung that for the garland.

That was the prettiest tree I had ever seen. It would not have graced the cover of any magazines about the holidays. It might have been the laughing stock of many people who glanced at it. But for me, the love we put into that tree made it the best tree I’ve ever had.

It’s Not About Money

The holidays don’t have to be about money. Some would make it seem so. Of course, stores and shopping malls need you to believe money is the root of the holiday season. However, the best holidays were those when we had no money. We used our creativity.

The commercialism of the holidays has ruined the true spirit of the season. Stress replaced good cheer. Financial worries took the place of peace. Christmas begins too early in the shopping malls. When the day arrives, we are “Christmased out”.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or any of the other forms of the holidays, the spirit is generally the same. It’s time for us as a society to reject the commercialism of the season and return to a simple approach to the holidays.

Consider starting a new tradition within your private circle to keep the holidays simple and loving. If we have to go into debt to be loved, we aren’t being loved.

Put the fun back into the season. Go poor!