The Post-Christmas Letdown
I was watching my great nieces unwrap their gifts on Christmas morning, and noticed something I hadn't ever seen before. In the midst of chaotic piles of paper and ribbon and boxes and bows (be sure you don't throw away any small gifts or gift cards!), there is usually a sense of letdown. Especially as a kid, perhaps even more so as an adolescent, and could it be...? Yes, even as an adult...when the packages are opened and all the thank you's have been said, there is a feeling of letdown. There is a moment or perhaps even hours, when we look at the tree and the leftover food, and we wonder to ourselves, "Is that it? Is that all there is?" Perhaps the intensity of our preparations and the extremes to which we sometimes go with our decorating and partying contribute to the letdown...I'm not sure. I've never had children of my own, but this year for the first time, I wondered what it feels like to be a parent. To work hard and sacrifice i...