Today is the Sixth Day of Christmas. I only know this because, after confirming with my teens what day of the week this is, I counted it out on the calendar. My count was confirmed by a much more reliable source – my oldest daughter – who has been writing a beautiful daily post on each of the Twelve Days, bringing us back to the foundation of the reason we celebrate.
I do not want to rush through this season, so I’m embracing the full twelve days (at least until the outside world insists we return to it). Our decorations are still up. We’re still enjoying treats. Our delayed mail delivery is still bringing cards from people I haven’t heard from since last year (I love that they still send us cards). In essence, this is an extended Sabbath for me and our teens, and even for Husband (he does go to work every day but at least there are no activities in the evenings).
We didn’t always celebrate Christmas for the full twelve days. Many years ago, Husband would (with my consent) begin undecorating two days after Christmas. Sometimes one day. He wanted to reset the house back to normal and less, and we both longed for order after the chaos and busy that comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas day. But several years ago, I realized that, for me, Christmas peace only came in the days after the Big Day. Our usually busy schedule turns into quite a blizzard of events, plus shopping, shipping, cooking, schooling, parenting, home keeping … Well, I’m sure many of you feel the same way.
Once I found out that the twelve days of Christmas traditionally start on Christmas Day (and don’t end on Christmas Day like so many think), I began embracing that time. The tree stays up (unless it’s dried out), the decorations stay out, the candles are still lit at supper. I don’t add anything to this – no feasts, no more gifts, no expectations. Just a wonderful time with a lot of space in the margins. Time to read, play games, do puzzles, be creative. I still do some work, but it’s not rushed and it’s certainly less than normal. I haven’t even opened any of my five email inboxes. (Yes, five is a lot. Yes, it’s overwhelming.) Essentially, this is an extended Sabbath, and it makes me realize how important it is to take some time to rest.