The last week of the year must be carefully spent...

During the seven days between Christmas and New Years is a time of reckoning. It is a time of cleaning out closets to make room for the new sweaters and robes we received. It’s a time of eating that pile of chocolates left at the bottom of the stockings. It’s a time for soup making. It’s a time for making lists and planning last-of-the-year spending. It’s a time for reading with a hot cup of tea and a time for putting together toys. It’s a time of organizing and getting that last deep breath before the new year begins.

As a senior member of the family, I’m hard to buy for. I usually tell my family that I don’t need anything, so my stack of presents includes socks and chocolates and bath salts. It’s the children who rake in the toys and electronic equipment. And it is usually left to the parents to make room for the new stuff. The old toys lay silently in their rooms, trying to fit in with the new, shiny toys. Eventually, they will get pushed to the back of the pile. Eventually, “someone” will clean out the old dolls with messy hair and the puzzles with missing pieces. If “someone” didn’t do some weeding out, the new items would be lost among the mess. But disposal must be discrete. There should be no old toys hanging out of the bin, no broken parts, or missing limbs in the garage. This last week of the year is a good time for weeding. The kids will be busy and not notice the black bags going out the back door.

It seems after Christmas there is always a plethora of edible gifts. Chocolate kisses and planks of peanut brittle, chocolate covered cherries (bought as a quick gift if someone arrived unexpected during gift-opening), boxes of assorted chocolates from the office, uneaten snack crackers, and popcorn tins which get pushed back under the tree. All of these are up for grabs even after the wrapping paper has been gathered. We say we don’t need it, but the new year hasn’t arrived, and we’re planning to cut back after New Years Day. So, we keep munching.

This has been a cold Christmas season, and across the country those turkeys and hams bought for Christmas are being recycled as delicious soups and sandwiches. The bones become broth for those soups and containers are frozen for later. I’ve eaten my recycled soup four times this week, and I only got home last Monday afternoon. It’s now, Tuesday night. But it’s been cold and with all that chocolate and peanut brittle stuck in my teeth, the soup helps… It helps my conscience more.

With computers and such, the bills for Christmas spending are arriving earlier than they used to. At one time, we could plan on a couple of guilt free weeks before we had to do a lot of “splaining” to our spouses. This week, the bills started to arrive before some of the gifts were unwrapped. That doesn’t seem fair.

My suggestion is to ignore the responsibilities that usually come with adulthood. Stack the mail, leave the tree and decorations up for a few more days, and search the refrigerator for that leftover cheesecake and the last slice of pecan pie. Eat the candy… before it goes bad. Find a quiet place and read those books you’ve been putting back. Wear your pajamas all day and remember… this extra week is a once-a-year event. Make the most of it.