I love sappy Christmas movies

A note~ this blog post is about Christmas and Christmas movies.  If you are anti-Christmas, don't like Christmas, don't like to read about Christmas - this might not be of interest to you.

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I love sappy Christmas movies.  I make no secret of it.  I will watch them over and over and always be surprised at the happy ending.  I sometimes cry even though I know what's coming.  I am always happy when things work out.  My friend Stacey and I both love "While You Were Sleeping" so much that we each have a copy and sometimes watched them at the same time.  I can honestly say that is my very favorite movie.  Ever.  Forever.  I love you back  :)

I wonder if I watched some of the movies (except my favorite, which I watch year-round) in say June or October whether or not I'd react the same way.  I think that it is the spirit of Christmas that helps me to enjoy them more.  For many, Christmas is a nutty, overly stressful, way too commercial time of year.  Buy too many presents people don't want/need.  Bake fattening treats that throw folks off of their healthy paths.  Not being able to say "Christmas Tree" or "Merry Christmas" because some people feel offended or left out.  That's what is has become for many.  I try hard not to let that happen to me and here's how....

• I make gifts when I can and give gift cards the rest of the time.  It is either really personal or really practical but I give with love and with great thought.
• I bake using healthy recipes much of the time, although a couple things you just can't mess with
• I don't send Christmas cards - I send New Year cards and eliminate all of that stress
• I decorate a little - lights and things that make me happy. My husband is Jewish so I make sure not to exclude him
• I always have something pine-scented burning to help set the mood
• I watch sappy Christmas movies

I don't know when I started loving those movies but it has been going on for quite a while.  I enjoy the classics but there is something about the barrage of movies playing endlessly on the Hallmark channel and on ABC Family that appeal to me more.  There are umpteen versions of the classics (Scrooge, It's a Wonderful Life) made more modern.  There are many that are so silly you know they can't happen in real life.  They are built around a formula of sorts: a seemingly OK life * some kind of conflict * maybe an angel * maybe romance * a miracle.  And that is how many of them work.


When I stop and think about it, I can almost apply that formula to the original Christmas story.  Young homeless couple about to have a baby * angels * a miracle.  Yup.  That might be why I love them.  They aren't making fun of the season...they are helping to keep the basics of the story alive.  Sort of like teaching people a lesson they didn't know they were learning.

If you can't bring yourself to watch any sappy Christmas movies - I say to you - try to keep the spirit of Christmas in your heart and that will be enough.

xo