I always remember December 4th because my mom told me that was her due date. She remained uncomfortably pregnant with me until the 19th. I always felt a little hurt about her impatience in waiting for me to arrive until I was pregnant with my first child. My due date was May 1; he was born May 10th and I was oh so more than ready. I then understood what my mom was talking about.
Yesterday I posted on my blog that I wanted to avoid all the garbage going on around us for the Christmas season. And then, of course, 45 opened his mouth and said he’d like to overturn the Constitution. Now I’m going to restrain myself because getting involved in that drama is just going to give me agita. There won’t be any consequences (if any) until much later than Christmas anyhow.
And then I read John Pavlovitz’s blog entry called “An Open Letter To Those Who Still Give A Damn.” That bolstered my conviction to set it aside. Yes, I give a damn and I still give a damn, but I need a break. I’m becoming frazzled and irritated, waiting for the next outrageous thing. Now I tell myself: can you do anything about it? No? Then set it aside and enjoy the season.
Another tweeter asked if we remember the Sears catalog and that brought back some warm, fun memories. Yes, indeed, I remember the Sears catalog. We got one during the fall season every year. My brother and I began anticipating its arrival even before Halloween! We all pored through it, parents and children alike. My brother and I looked through it most often, drooling.
When it was my turn to go through the toy pages, I circled everything that appealed to me in red pen ink. I knew Santa couldn’t bring me everything I wanted but I knew I would get something. My brother did the same when it was his turn. We dogeared the pages so that when it came time to write to Santa, we would remember everything we wanted.
Just before Christmas, we were allowed to cut paper dolls and paper toys from the catalog. I’m guessing now my parents were done with their shopping and didn’t need it anymore. What fun that was! We would play together or alone with our paper dolls and that activity kept us busy right up until Christmas Eve.
When my children were little, Sears changed their procedure and didn’t mail the catalogs. We could pick one up from the nearby store itself. That was a special trip because my kids looked forward to exploring a catalog as much as my brother and I did. If I could, I would pick up more than one catalog. It’s not easy for two kids to share a catalog as my brother and I did, never mind three little ones all eager to have a long look. My kids also cut paper dolls and paper toys out of the books.
Now they are all grown up, and I don’t know if Sears even has a catalog anymore. I don’t know if Sears has any stores open at all. I don’t shop in malls or any stores other than Walmart anymore, not since the pandemic. Our grandchildren are either grown or live out-of-state and the same is true of our great grandchildren.
I hadn’t thought about Sears catalogs in years. I was happy to be reminded.
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