Christmas in July

Every once in a while, my parents go away for a few days, and when they come home they realize I’ve done something crazy. Yesterday they came home after a week at the cottage to find I had decorated for Christmas. You see, I had wanted to celebrate Christmas in July for years. A few weeks ago I decided that this would be the year to do it.

I was really excited about this. Perhaps a little bit too excited. Sometimes I think of an idea, and get caught up making something out of it. That can work really well when I have friends around to get on board with my idea, but this time I had only my parents. That’s the problem with being a family of three. Ideas that seem really cool with a big group of people seem really strange went it’s a gathering of three people. I decided we would celebrate Christmas in July anyway, and hoped that my parents would eventually share my enthusiasm.

The morning started with pancakes, because Christmas (in July) morning needs pancakes. Then the festivities were put on hold because I needed to go to work for the day. I considered wearing red and green, but I didn’t want my co-workers to think I had gotten dressed in the dark.

Finally I returned home and the festivities continued! Actually, it was at this point that I realized that I wasn’t going to have the elaborate celebration I had originally planned. Instead of a grand feast, we had grilled cheese and tomatoes. It wasn’t fancy — or festive — but grilled cheese is always something I get excited about. We didn’t have any apple cider, so we drank Somersby out of snowflake glasses. We ate chocolate chip cookies with sprinkles, and we pretended that the sprinkles in them were Christmas colours.

When it finally got dark, I turned on the Christmas lights and we got together to take a family photo. Because I asked them nicely, my parents wore Christmas clothes. Thanks Mom and Dad. That meant a lot to me.

Merry Christmas in July from the Heffernans.

Song of the Day: Just Like Christmas by Low