I think it's normal to get into a little funk just before and then again just after Christmas. Maybe it's put there by God to remind us that the first Christmas wasn't swaddled with joy, it was a case of running in fear of the life of the child and then having no where to actually birth the child in comfort and peace. Through the festivities we tend to overlook the true meaning of Christmas. They say the real meaning of Christmas is in the giving...giving to whom?...rich relatives who already have? I think (Christians especially) should rethink Christmas and all the traditions that go along with it. One of my aunts used to put the Infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph inside the manger until Christmas day. Then on Christmas day she would place them outside the manger to signify the birth of Jesus; also, she would bake Him a birthday cake so that the kids would have some awareness of what the real meaning of Christmas was (is). She would have every child in the family over one night before Christmas, the cookies would already be baked and we would decorate them. There would be trees and snowmen etc. and when they were all decorated she would then wrap each one in saran wrap with a bow and hang about a dozen of them on individual small (about a foot high) trees and we would each get to bring a tree home with us. I have NO idea where the woman got the patience for this...lol...but it was an awesome way to celebrate Christmas as a family and in joy. She had the right idea of Christmas. We all were together for this wonderful season; also, she would invite the entire family (and we were a LOT of people) to her house for Christmas supper and celebration through the night. I can remember sitting at her fireplace listening to the fire crackle and the Christmas tunes on the record player...it was so awesome!! She would put all the food out on the counter and we would help ourselves; when it was gone it was gone, but it never seemed to be gone? did God keep the supply going? She recognized that christmas was a special time...a time for families to be together in thanksgiving for what Jesus did for us...and she made sure that we had that. Mary Silva December 2003