Both Sides of Bright

December 12, 2024

On its face, the holiday season is one long celebration of positive things: peace, good will toward men, generosity, harmony, connection, art, love, family, food, and all the other forces that have let humans thrive on Earth. We as a culture go to great lengths to make the season enchanting: You can see that magic on practically every page of KidsOutAndAbout.com these days.

But for each adult, much more swirls under and behind all the glow, muddling the simplicity of the delight of the season. Over time, reality inevitably sprinkles disappointments and losses among life's joys and blessings. The season's hype can act as a magnifying glass, focusing our attention on our own personal ghosts of holidays past, which forces the light around us to coexist with the shadows that stretch from our past to our now. Both are present. Both are real.

So even for those who are naturally merry and bright, the holidays are complicated, because humans are complicated. That doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for the simple joys at this time of year, especially for and with our kids. Experiences that are pure and innocent really are pure and innocent; their stories are woven into the fabric of who we were and who we are, and they're just as true as the bad things behind us and around us. We seek these experiences together, and we tell those stories to our kids and to each other. We hold them up as sacred as we let their bright and gentle lights shine on the shadows.

Both are true. Both are us.

—Deb