I Think I am the Grinch

Today I was breezing through the kitchen at work, intent on refilling my water and on my way back to my desk to bury myself in more work. In the kitchen heating up her lunch was a co-worker who I used to work with closely, but hadn’t seen in awhile, and she wanted to make small talk. She asked me if I was looking forward to the holidays. Rather than giving the expected answer (which I wish I would have done, although then I wouldn’t have anything to blog about!), I said, “NO! It’s such a stressful time!”

Her response to me made me feel more guilty. She said, “Oh, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my family!”  I thought perhaps she meant family members from out of town that she may not see often, but she said, no, with her husband and children, not having to go anywhere, to just sit around and be together.

And I truly felt scrooge-ish with my attitude. It’s not that I don’t love my children, or want to spend time with them. But seriously, spending lots of unstructured time with them is long and boring, for all of us. And add a holiday like Christmas with all the EXPECTATIONS, and it’s enough to make me want to move to Australia. And I haven’t even gotten into the baggage that will come along with my mother’s visit.

I’ve had lots of other blog topics rattling in my head the last few days, but suddenly my mind is blank.