This might make me sound like a miser, but there’s not much about Christmas I enjoy anymore. I hate the pressure of buying gifts. I hate the extra cost it puts on my very budget-regulated life. I hate that I generally feel like a failure, because the world tells me I’m a bad parent if I don’t buy my kids the latest and greatest tech junk to come down the tube.

But…there are a few things that I do love—giving out Christmas Tree Bread and listening to Christmas music. In fact, I can’t do one without the other. If I’m making Christmas Tree Bread, Christmas music must be playing.

Of course, I’m always singing along. I can’t help myself, and my youngest son shares my fixation. At the top of his voice he sings along with me. I hope he never stops loving to sing. His bullhorn tone puts such a smile on my face—I love the Christmas classics even more.