The holidays are very focused on children which can leave childfree adults feeling a bit lost on how to celebrate. Welcomed back to the Hearthside again this holiday season, Tiffany J. Marie shares below on the magic of Christmas and how to embrace this holiday as an adult. ~Gwendolyn

The Joy of being an Adult during the Holidays ~ Special Guest post by Tiffany J. Marie

I slide the record out of its sleeve. I set it down on the turntable and push in the ‘play’ button. The arm lifts and floats across the record, setting down to fill the room with the sweet, molasses voice of Michael Bublé. ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ rings out through the house and my heart is transported to a winter wonderland. Looking out the window my view is anything but wintery. The trees are still lush with Autumn leaves and the weather is a balmy 16 degrees Celsius. It’s only November 1st, but in this house it’s Christmas. Beside me is a stack of Christmas decor bins waiting to be unpacked. This is one of my favourite days of the year.

Christmas has made a home so deep in my heart. My family did their best to embody generosity and charity over the holiday season. From gifts to meals, to opening our home to friends and family as often as they could, the house was always abuzz with Christmas spirit. We had traditions that meant spending more time together, something I longed for in a single parent home. My mom would bundle us up in the car, stop at Tim Hortons for hot chocolate and drive around to look at the Christmas lights. Evenings you could find us snuggling on the couch, my mom reading stories from our ‘Treasury of Christmas Tales’ book before we climb into bed. While the anticipation of Santa and the subsequent flood of gifts was almost too exciting to bear as a child, the magic that followed me into my adult years had nothing to do with consumerism.

Growing up for many means growing out of the magic of Christmas. With the financial realities a little too real and the fairytales now just stories, Christmas becomes another thing to do on the list and another season of chaos and cost. Adults become cynical and a holiday so full of wonder and awe becomes woeful, stressful and avoided. What’s a wannabe Christmas lover to do?

“When planning your holidays don’t forget to think about the things you always dreamed of doing as a child... there’s no such thing as ‘too old’ when it comes to Christmas.”

— Tiffany J Marie

My best advice, channel your inner child. Richard Dean tweeted “As a grown-up I’ve learned that all the “Christmas magic” I felt as a kid was really a mom who loved me so damn much.” This love can be extended to ourselves and that magic return with every act of kindness we give. Maybe those things will look a little different as an adult, I won’t be snuggling with my mom on the couch, but I can still pull out that Christmas book and read those same stories I loved so much as a child before climbing into bed. My viewing of the Christmas lights will now be a stroll instead of a chauffeured drive and involve coffee instead of hot chocolate, but the magic and wonder still exists in those moments.

Channel your inner child as you decide how to celebrate as an adult. Was there something you always wanted to do as a child but couldn’t? Do it now! Go take yourself to the Nutcracker ballet!

Will we feel a little silly reading a children’s Christmas book as a grown adult, especially as an adult without children of our own? We totally will. But I’d wager that once you feel the joy that swells in your heart as your eyes glide across those familiar words that feeling of embarrassment will dissipate and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. Many of my traditions I enjoy now are rooted in the things I loved so much as a child; simple joys, charity, love and memory making. While gifts are still fun to receive and give, we know that the gifts aren’t where we will find the happiness.

Think about things you loved as a child, or the things you always dreamed of doing, and do those now, unapologetically. Write a letter to Santa, visit a Christmas village, spend an evening watching those old favourite Christmas movies. That being said, part of the magic we felt as children is the excitement of a new activity, the anticipation of something that we know will be captivating, and the memory of doing something for the very first time. When planning your holidays don’t forget to think about the things you always dreamed of doing as a child. Was The Nutcracker ballet been on your list since you were little? Now is the time! Have you seen adverts for a local ‘Polar Express’ train and think “younger me would’ve loved that”? Go do it! There’s no such thing as ‘too old’ when it comes to Christmas.