Yeah, Kurt and I struggle with being caught up in the commercial aspect of Christmas. We constantly have to refocus, read our bibles, focus on the Nativity and Jesus related stories for the kids to keep ourselves in check.
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We live in a society where on the Saturday before Christmas you can find yourself getting into a line of cars at 8:14 pm and inching your way to the start of a holiday light display, whereupon you get angry with about 20 people along the way for cutting into said line. You watch as one lane becomes 2, then merges back into 1, then becomes 2 again, then merges back into one, all the while everyone wanting to get at least one car length further up in the line during all this merging.
At 9:14, you look down at the clock and realize you are passing the cop that said it would only be 20 minutes to reach this point. Uh-huh. His 20 minutes is your hour, but who was watching the clock, really. I mean, what would be the reason for watching the clock? Maybe because it was already past bedtime when you got IN the line, and you had 2 kids in the back seat gung-ho for some lights?
After you wait for the cars of people who ordered water for 2 bucks, or maybe they got hot chocolate for 4. Or maybe (and I am serious here) a candy cane for 2. Whatever they ordered, you need to wait for them to get it.
Then, there you are... at the START of the display. You are handed a cd to listen to that *goes* with the lights -- commercials and all-- and you proceed to the entrance, when what do your wondering eyes shall appear, but RAIN. Yep. Rain.
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Okay... cynicism aside... the sheer joy of watching the kids faces as we told them they can get out of their carseats made it all worth it. They LOVED the lights. We drove right along the boardwalk at the beach.
Sure, it was completely cheesy and commercialized (they did have a lit nativity, which cracked me up. Nothing like Jesus glowing on the beach!) but it really was a joy... even if we had waited about an hour and fifteen minutes to drive for about 20 minutes through the lights. I don't even know if they kids even saw the whole display. They were too busy just being out of their carseats.
Maybe next year, we can save the 3.5 hours, the $10.00 (oh, did I mention that part?) and just let the kids out of their carseats and drive around the cul-de-sac. I think we will get the same reaction.
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