10:18 p.m. | 2005-12-17 A Little Bit Of The Grinch. My family celebrates Christmas In July. I love, love, love that tradition. It just works well for my family. Bright shiny faces. All around. For most of my life, the holiday season has been plagued with harsh words, unspoken yet clear displays of resentment and barely concealed anger. Not quite what Baby Jesus or Santa had in mind, I suppose. It�s never been pleasant for me. That much I know. It�d be the main reason we moved the holiday actually. Yet, Christmas In December has slowly crept back into my life. For most of my family members, they spend the winter celebration with the �other� side of the family as they�ve already paid dues to their own side. Not so much with me since I don�t have another side. I�ve spent a lot of years on my own and I�ve always enjoyed it. However, for the past few years, YoungestSister has included me in her Christmas celebrations. I eventually warmed up to the idea, have attended and enjoy that too. But, there is one thing about that which I hate. It�s the shopping. See, I can�t very well go to YS�s house without bringing her and YSHusband a host gift and I certainly can�t go there at Christmas without a present for LittleNephew. Traditionally, the only other person who attended was YS�s MIL and I never felt comfortable bringing gifts for everyone else besides her, especially since she�s always gifted me. This year? YS�s MIL has moved away so she won�t be attending. There�s a new child though, BabyNephew and both MyMother and StepMom will be attending. Suddenly, it�s a lot like Christmas In December once again. That�s fine. It�s more than fine actually. I really enjoy these celebrations. What I don�t like? Last minute Christmas shopping. Much like I did today. It�s always last minute because I get the invitation last minute albeit it�s a standing invitation. It�s awkward that way. Anyway, since there is a child involved, I always inquire about appropriate gifts. I receive what I consider very vague answers � as I don�t have children, I do research to even remotely understand the request � so I go out and about to places I don�t want to go to this time of year. That�s the grind, the dig, the pain. The shopping part. I love giving gifts, love visiting with people and love the celebration. Hate the shopping so close to Christmas. (A big reason I love Christmas In July.) So, I went shopping today. For a child, an infant and a handful of adults. It was painful. I knew it would be so I just tried to do the best I could. I bit my tongue, pulled out as much patience as I could muster and didn�t hurt anyone. But, oh my, I wanted to smack a whole bunch of parents (especially those whose kids were all over the aisles and the toys � without supervision), almost told a child to �STOP! just stop� shouting �MOMMAMOMMAMOMMA� over and over and over and over again and again and again (her mother, a couple of aisles way had tuned her out), and tried not to shoot devil eyes at all the adults and teenagers who stood right in the middle of the walkways talking on their cellphones. Much as I appreciated (seriously) the father who spun his child in a cart in the intersection of the walkways for a little childhood entertainment, it annoyed me. Way too much yelling, screaming, whining and crying for me. Temper tantrums weren�t so much appreciated either. Nor did I appreciate young boys playing soccer in the walkways. Most of all? I totally didn�t appreciate rude, inconsiderate and incorrigible behaviour from adults. Kids? I understand their over-enthusiasm (which often results in meltdowns), but adults? Not so much. But, I survived, got my shopping done and left. No worse for wear, I suppose. Really, it�s a small price to pay for a perfectly enjoyable Christmas In December celebration. your thoughts? seed flower