I know that it is only a few days until the wonderful night that Santa Claus makes his trip around the world and leaves presents for all the good boys and girls. And I am not so old that I don’t remember the excitement as I lay in my bed and tried to stay awake in order to hear the reindeer hooves on the roof and maybe, just maybe, hear Santa as he tiptoed from our fireplace in order to leave a gift for my brother and me under our tree. He came to visit my children when they were young and I believe that he still comes to Nick, Camden and Katie Mei. I don’t think that there is anything more exciting or wonderful than that glorious night! And although I know that all children finally grow up and Santa no longer visits, I think that it a sad day when that time comes. But if you can still celebrate with a child, you can feel the joy that this wonderful time of the year brings.

I want to share with you something that I think of every single holiday season, and it isn’t about the wondrousness of the season. Nope, not even close. As I sat upstairs in our house and finished all the wrapping that I had to do, I cursed the shop owners! And why, you ask? Well, for some reason those who are in charge of selling items (and not just at the holiday season, either) find it necessary to attach to any and all items price stickers with a glue that makes it impossible to remove. Now, I have very strong and good fingernails. But these nails, although they are able to do almost anything that I want them to do, can’t scrape off those stickers. If I was just using some product myself, I might not care. But on a Christmas present, I do care!

Regardless of how much I pay, unless I am buying something online, everything has those price stickers on it. And I find it embarrassing and tacky to give someone a gift with the price sticker still on it. I know you can try and black it out with a pen or a magic marker, but as a rule, you can still see the price through the ink. If you try and put a sticker over the price you know that someone will peel that off but leave the original price sticker right there.

I know that the reason for these stickers is so that some crooked person can’t change the ticket and try to buy whatever it is at a lower price. But how many people do you think actually do that? And if they want to steal or cheat I am sure that they have figured out how to either remove that price sticker or cover it up with another one. As far as I can see, the only people who are suffering with the terrible stickers are you and me! And I want to let you know that as I am typing this, I still have sticky pieces of price tags  under my nails. I wrapped a few gifts this morning and scraped until I almost dropped. And as I scraped I never once said “Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays!”

I don’t have any suggestions on how to take those stickers of your gifts, and for that I am truly sorry! I suppose if you are like me and they drive you crazy, with the exception of scraping until you break all your nails, if the gift comes in a cardboard box you can always cut a little square out of the box that contains the sticker. I do think that looks pretty bad, but children probably won’t notice unless it is right in the middle of the gift! But I have discussed those rotten stickers far too long, so I guess I am finished.

But I do want to encourage you all to finish up your shopping, your wrapping and your cooking, if possible. I guarantee you will enjoy your holiday much more if you can give yourself the gift of peace and quiet for a few days. Think about it, you sitting in a room with a few tasteful decorations in it, a warm fire either burning on the hearth or in your furnace, and having the luxury of reading a good book while sipping a mug of hot cider while carols are playing softly in the air. You’ll look just like a lovely Christmas card, and you will feel like one too.

Remember in just a few days Christmas Day will be here and with it the chaos that brings family and friends together. It is joyous and it is fun, but it is also very tiring. So give yourself the gift that helps you get ready for the big day! Nothing is a more appreciated or a bigger gift for your family than having you feel relaxed and in a good mood! Taking care of yourself is a gift that keeps on giving.