100 Words Per Mile: Prepping for Christmas
In December 2021, I spent a lot of mornings putting my newborn daughter under the tree.
December 7, 2021
10.00 miles
1:26:58
I managed to slow my pace a bit today, but more importantly, I felt really good. I’m more and more confident I’ll finish the half marathon in a timely manner, especially since I think I could’ve kept running for a while after today’s run.
Funny enough, I haven’t written much about Christmas yet, despite how important it’s been to me this year. I was reminded because I left the Christmas lights on during the day time, so when I returned home from my run, the twinkle and glow filled me with a kind of joy that I always seem to be chasing.
Every Black Friday, my wife and I decorate the house for Christmas. She places knick-knacks and snow globes and other décor inside the home while I take out the ladder and hang the lights across our roof line. This year I managed to get the icicle style lights (something I’ve always wanted), which gives our house a fuller and inviting glow at night. Then, in the evening, we hang ornaments on the pre-lit tree while we watch The Family Stone and The Holiday.
We used to buy a real tree each year, but the first Christmas we spent in the new house ended with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new friends: baby stick bugs. We tried to save most of them, but I was forced to murder many with the vacuum. So to avoid that kind of anguish again, we bought a fake tree the following year.
In addition to the icicle lights, we also have a new addition this year: our daughter’s stocking! Adding hers above the fireplace was one of those moments that felt more bizarre than actually becoming a parent.
Each morning I takeover so my wife can sleep, my daughter and I listen to Christmas music while she does tummy time in her crib. There’s a playlist on Spotify made up of all the pop Christmas songs, including the likes of Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé, and Ariana Grande. While the music plays, I drum on the crib and my daughter gives me what is starting to feel like a true smile. Her favorite (which is probably just my favorite because of how fired up I get), is actually a duet by Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton. I don’t even listen to either artist, but that song makes me feel warm. Especially when I’m hanging out with my daughter.
When she gets bored of the crib, we move to the living room, where I change her into her new outfit for the day and let her play under the tree. She enjoys the blinking lights and the dangling ornaments, and I enjoy watching her chase her curiosities. She’s the greatest gift, and we still have eighteen days to go until Christmas.
I’m not a religious person (have we spoken about this yet?), so the “true” meaning of Christmas means nothing to me. It’s the only Christian holiday I celebrate (unless St. Patrick’s Day is some kind of Catholic thing) and I don’t do it for Jesus. I do it for the aesthetic. Lights, gifts, music, cozy clothes, colorful décor—Jesus really has nothing to do with it. I’m sorry if that’s offensive. I just mean to say, that the tradition of celebrating Christmas doesn’t require you to be Christian at all.
