I've watched The Santa Clause one and a half times tonight (I caught it halfway through the first time). This is one of those movies that my sister, father and I kinda wore out when it came out - watched it over and over. I can still recite most of the movie, it turns out.
The movie is cheesy, but so much fun. I actually like all three of them. Maybe it's Christmas movies. Somehow, Christmas always seems much less complicated in movies, doesn't it? Even when they tackle the stress of Christmas, it always works out. Of course, that's the point of movies. Happy endings to make life a little more fun and maybe provide hope.
As a kid, Christmas was kinda stressful. In California, there was always the going between Grandma and Grandpa's houses. You couldn't take presents from Grandpa's house into Grandma's because if she asked about the presents, you'd have to mention Grandpa which was verbotten. There were also trips up the mountain to my uncle's house. When we went to Oklahoma for Christmas (every other year or so), we drove so there was at least a day on either side of the trip and often stops along the way to see friends and family in Arizona. When we moved to Oklahoma, we had the same in reverse, though with added trips in California to see friends we had left behind.
It took a long time for me to find magic in Christmas again. I got a taste of it in Korea (of all things) when Brendan and I had a snowy Christmas walk through the base. It was beautiful, especially considering how much I disliked Korea. We had a great Christmas here in NY with my parents when they came to visit a few years ago. And the next year, Christmas was quiet, spent with friends working in a soup kitchen and then having a quiet soup at their house.
Those small moments have slowly been reclaiming Christmas in my view. Less something to dread and more and more something to be excited about. I'll be in Oklahoma this year - first time in a decade. And since my brother-in-law is in the sandbox, it will be me, my sister and my parents for the last time. In the future there are in-laws and kids and while those will be wonderful, this is the last time in this part of our lives. I'm really excited.
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