What is Christmas?

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happy-thanks-giving-day-celebrations-poster_mJ9fMrI am a holiday purist. I firmly believe no holiday should be celebrated until the major holiday before it is over, which is why Christmas has become my yearly headache. Christmas does not start in September! It shouldn’t share the shelves with Jack-O-Lanterns, and I hope I’m not the only one who sees the irony in the demotion of Thanksgiving; a DAY we are to be thankful for what we have, to a few hours of thanks and then a full jump into a world of buy, buy, buy!

Go ahead, call me a Grinch. You wouldn’t be the first, and probably won’t be the last.

I’m keenly aware of what a secular Christmas should be. I can assure you it doesn’t mean maxing out credit cards and showering children with their every wish and desire. I’m sure it doesn’t mean that highly-touted electronic item you bought just 1 hour after you stuffed your body full of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, will put you in any better position in this world. I can guarantee your child won’t fully appreciate your sacrifice of family time because you had to go shopping every weekend in December for them.

Christmas should be exactly what I’m accused of not having: Christmas spirit. It should be about embracing time with our loved ones and telling them what they mean to us. It should be about giving to others in a way the supersedes a sweater or a toy. It shouldn’t be a holiday dictated by Big Books or Wish Lists.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that so many people complain how children “these days” are spoiled and lack empathy. Is it really that surprising? They’ve grown up in a world that increasingly takes family out of holidays and replaces it with materialism. We’ve allowed ourselves to become a nation of deals and steals, quantity over quality, elongating Christmas in order to have a bigger stash of gifts come Christmas morning. It doesn’t help when we’re used to hearing stories about otherwise mild-mannered parents throwing punches over a most-wanted toy. It seems like Christmas increasingly brings out the craziness in so many people to go overboard, and I have to wonder what effect that has on young, impressionable minds.

I recently heard the term, “Gimme Generation” in relation to all kids born after 2000. I hope I’m not the only person who has a problem with this. You’d think after hearing so much about Generation Y and their sense of entitlement, we might have learned our lesson. Apparently not.

I don’t, however, have an answer as to how to break this discouraging trend. I can only say that my daughter will grow up like I did: celebrate Christmas when Thanksgiving is over, and spend as much time giving non-material items to those who need them as she does to pleasing her friends and family with physical gifts.

Is anyone else with me? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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