‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…except for the previously mentioned house.

Stop with the darn lights already.

To put it simply, the holidays are about gorging oneself on candy and unhealthy food while pretending you enjoy spending time with your family.

One of the greatest joys of the holiday season is setting up those sparkly little lights that refuse to work after you slave over them for two hours. It is about fun, it is about the season, it is about being happy and spending time with those relatives you never see.

My uncle Todd, on the other hand, spent days hooking up his lights to a Mannheim Steamroller medley. Certain parts of his house light up to certain parts of the song.

A song that plays all night long.

All. Night. Long.

Not a creature was stirring, except for Uncle Todd’s house.

There is a reason people decorate their houses. It depends on the family, but it usually stays fun. I mean, sometimes I just go driving at night to see the world lit up by those darn lights. People decorate to make the world beautiful for a month.

When decorating stops being about fun, and starts being about one-upping the neighbors or winning contests or playing music all night so others can’t sleep, it becomes too much.

For example, Uncle Todd also spent four hours untangling lights while my cousins and I decorated the tree. Not exactly the family moment we were expecting.

His energy bill went through the roof that month. It wasn’t worth the effort he put into it.

So please, keep it fun. Keep it light. And for goodness sakes, stop with the darn lights already.