Christmas Morning

'Twas the morning of Christmas

and all through our home

nothing was stirring

not even this poem.

No stockings are hung

but I've hidden a few.

I'll top up their contents

in an hour or two.

Me in my pj's

the cats are astir

Kurt is still sleeping,

this rhyme's goin' nowhir ...

Our little family doesn't have any solid Christmas traditions. Gifts are low on the priority list and any gathering of the family is simply a bonus we enjoy as it unfolds. 

"No expectations = no disappointment" was my motto as I tried to raise my family not to set the bar too high on these hyped up holidays.

I woke up to a cat pawing and pawing at me as he vied for my attention this morning. Usually a quick scratch behind his ears will send him off to his corner of my bed in a contented sort of way. Not this morning. He bugged and pestered me until I finally got up.

"It's Christmas morning and he doesn't want me to sleep in!" I thought to myself as I started moving into the day. I thought our kitty cats had somehow enveloped the Christmas spirit and wanted me to get stirring in anticipation of the day ahead.

It turned out their food dish was empty.

I filled their bowl and stepped into the morning. And so Christmas day begins. A day like most others, with a supper invitation tacked onto our agenda.

A morning filled with little gestures of Christmas has set the tone for a day which will, no matter where it goes from here, will turn out to be a perfectly fine Christmas Day.

No matter what your Christmas traditions and expectations may be, I wish you a day which you can unwrap as it comes along and enjoy the small gifts hidden within this day.