Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat...

please to put a penny in the old man's hat, 
if you haven't got a penny, a haypenny will do
if you haven't got a haypenny, then God Bless you!

My mother has this vhs tape that she recorded, probably before I was born, and it has almost every Christmas special I've ever loved on that tape.  That's a huge part of Christmas in America, watching Christmas specials and movies and just relaxing with your family as you enjoy them together.  The following (probably in order) are on that tape:
1. Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer
2. Charlie Brown Christmas Special
3. Santa Clause is Coming To Town
4. Muppet Christmas Special starring John Denver
5. Judy Garland's Christmas Special
6. A Christmas Carol starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

I think there may be a few other things on there, because it had to be a 6 or 8 hour tape.  Do you remember those?  Your parents would say, "we don't have to buy the movie, we'll just record it with our vcr!" and not even everyone's vcr could do that if you couldn't hook it up to the cable box the correct way!!  This was DVR children, and because technology didn't move nearly as fast as it does now, that was DVR for around 25 years maybe more.

Getting back to the Christmas theme of this post, I just wanted to say that my Christmas list doesn't really include gifts.  My Christmas wish is to sit at my mom's house, be with my family, my dog, my boyfriend, and watch some fantastic childhood favorites.  I never feel like it's Christmas until I've watched that tape, and sometimes it brings a little tear to my eye when I put in Muppet Christmas Carol or a more adult comedy like The Ref.

Even though my life has had a lot of change and instability, those things don't change.  Rudolph will always be there to wish me a Merry Christmas, regardless of what house I'm living in or whether or not I'm in a good relationship.  It reminds me that Christmas will always be Christmas, and I will always have a mix of nostalgic tears and love for this wonderful family holiday.

So when you go home to your family, if they're driving you absolutely crazy or you're just not feeling like it's quite reached the holidays that you remember feeling like last year or as a child, put on A Christmas Story, or Scrooged, or the Year Without a Santa Clause... the list goes on and on and on.  Whatever your favorite was, and I bet everyone will hunker down even just for five minutes with you, remembering one of the many traditions that makes an American Christmas, your family Christmas.

(Keep a lookout for more Christmas posts)