Today we move on to lighter topics. Of late it's been the stress and sadness surrounding the seizures of our fur kid and her subsequent euthanasia. My heart is still heavy with sadness, and will be for some time I think. I'm not going to be able to move on as fast as I thought I would. It's harder to let go, more difficult than I figured, there's not been a day that I haven't cried because I miss her. But, we will get through it, somehow someway.
Right now, my concern is that I hate May and June. There have been a lot of crappy things that happened in May and June, like the aforementioned death of my mud puppy. I also miscarried in May some years ago, lost my grandmother in June and a whole host of other things, but no my beef is with all the "occasions" in May/June.
There's Mother's day to kick it off, my birthday, 2 close friends birthdays, father's day, Miss K's birthday, sister in law's birthday, god son's birthday, step father's birthday, and lastly father in laws birthday. (Which technically is in July, but the 3rd, so close enough to all the other crap)
Why you ask would I complain about so many supposed joyous occasions at once? Should be a whole lotta partying going on right? Lots of fun and laughter etc… To some extent yes, but to another extent it just makes already busy months even more crazy.
Mother's day and my birthday fall within two weeks of one another. All is good on that front except there's always the request to come up with ideas for people to get me stuff. Gifts are not necessary people!! How many times do I have to say it?
I don't care about stuff. From time to time there may be a thing or two that I need, but it's really tough coming up with that many ideas in a short amount of time. Miss K baked me a big cookie and made a card this year for mother's day, that's all I need. Same for me birthday, some acknowledgement that it is my birthday, a hug, kiss, maybe a card, some cake and I'm good to go.
But what I really hate is all the other birthdays and stuff. Yes, I like my kid's birthday because it usually means seeing all our friends and family and that is great. But it also means more stuff. Everyone wants to buy her "stuff", no one wants to give money for education funds (except my mom), they all want to buy her a toy. She does not need one more thing! She doesn't play with half the stuff she's got because everyone had to buy her "something" in the past. It drives me nuts!
Then there's the people that you have to buy for. We're doing pretty good cutting back but you still like to get a little something for everyone. Father's day is lots of fun, dad, step dad, father in law, all seniors that really don't need anything. Thankfully 2 of the 3 play golf so there's always a gift certificate for a round that is useful.
There's cards and gifts and shipping to those who don't live close, or a scramble to get something early because someone is coming to visit and you want to avoid the postage, because that is just another expense. Where does it end?
I'm not saying get rid of gift giving, I think there's a lot of good intentions out there and well wishers. I just wish there wasn't such a focus on it. We get so wrapped up in what we are wrapping up that we really forget to celebrate the birthday/anniversary etc…
What good is rushing around to get a gift and it makes you so busy that you forget to call the person or even send a text message for their day. I'd rather have the phone call or a visit any day over someone being so stressed and busy getting me a gift that they forget the little stuff.
We need to take a step back and appreciate what you have in the people around you. By all means send a card or gift, but maybe take a better look around and say rather than putting time and effort into a gift(s), could I use that time to help someone out? Bring dinner for them? Take them to a movie? Call and just chat for half an hour?
I guess maybe this comes back around full circle to missing my puppy dog. It's the shared experiences and laughter that you miss about people when they're gone, not the gifts they brought. That person/kid/animal brightens your life just by being there with you, not by what they spent on you.
Yup, it's not a new concept, a bit rose coloured glasses even for me, but maybe we should focus more on the things that matter in life, not so much on giving/having more stuff
Til next time...
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