Holidays.
Times of celebration and togetherness.
Times of unnecessary stress.
It seems to me holidays have also become times of being overwhelmed by work and being surrounded by those who want to be at the gatherings but not contribute to them in any way.
When did holidays become the latest consumer event?
Growing up I remember looking forward with eager anticipation for holiday gatherings…
I am sure they were a lot of work for my mother, as the gatherings were normally at our house. Be that as it may, I also recall my grandmother coming to help clean to get ready, and my aunts all bringing food to contribute. Everyone helped clean up after the meal so that we could all move on to playing games.
As my cousins and I became older, we too helped with food preparation. I still recall the anticipation of waiting for one aunt’s cheesy broccoli rice and another aunt’s spinach casserole. My cousin made THE BEST desserts. We all worked together and enjoyed a fun family time sharing the work and the play.
The holiday gathering I just took part in this past weekend could not have looked any more different.
Gone are the days of all of the aunts bringing food and Grandma helping to clean. Family quarrels and dysfunction and old age are to blame for some of this. However, there are still plenty of people that attend. Instead of grandma and aunts and uncles, our gatherings now consist of my mom and step dad and me along with my siblings. Some of us are married, so that adds spouses to the mix.
The problem isn’t that grandma got old and the dysfunction gets in the way. The problem is that the spouses/siblings seem to want to be consumers at holidays and not help in any way. I don’t know if this is an age thing ( I am forty, but my siblings and their spouses are between the ages of 25-34) or just a new societal norm thing in general.
It’s like they are showing up to a restaurant or catered event. They put their orders in for what they expect to see foodwise, arrival time is when it is time to eat, and shortly after the meal is finished they want to know when can we start playing games. I spent this holiday helping my mom and dad prepare and then clean up a dinner for twelve people and two toddlers. Not a single other adult even OFFERED to help WITH ANYTHING.
Am I the only one who finds this behavior/attitude strange?
Is it because we have generations who’s parents haven’t taught them to be contributors?
Is it because we have generations who have been taught how to be polite but don’t care to be?
Perhaps it has nothing to do with being taught anything at all but is instead due to an oblivion caused by internet addiction. Maybe the thing is, no one else offered to help because no one else noticed we were even cleaning up. They were all to absorbed looking down at their phones.
Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest…..the list goes on and on. Little attention grabbers where we can be the designers of our perceived existence allowing others to only see what we want them to see. Masters of our social media domains. As such, we must make sure we are paying close attention to what all of our social media friends are doing, lest they manage to one up us when we aren’t looking.
I will admit, I am as guilty of this as the next person, but not to the extent of not being aware of what is going on around me. All of this social media interaction is causing us to each be isolated little islands.
This makes it impossible to interact with those who are right there in the same room as us. Making conversation is a dying skill, if it isn’t already extinct in some generations.
What is the good of having 400 Facebook friends or 1000 Twitter followers if we have lost the art of making and maintaining real human connections? Statistics show that we have never been more connected by communications means than we are now, but we have unprecedented numbers of people who experience loneliness on a regular basis and feel isolated.
Humans were made to be in relationship with one another. We need our tribes and communities…in reality and human flesh.
So do me a favor here. Mothers Day and Memorial day are right around the corner. Make the conscious decision to be at your next family gathering. Find out what you can bring or how you can help. Then be intentional about not looking at your phone while you are there and being present in the moment. Who knows, you might actually get to know and communicate better with the family members right in front of you.
Your frazzled sister may thank you for it!
May blessings and laughter be yours!
XOXO till next time,
Poppy
DASHING EXPECTATIONS 