About Gift Giving
As usual this is one man’s humble opinion, if you don’t agree, I
am perfectly fine with it. Regarding Santa,
well, that is a tricky subject to go to.
However, if you are going to discredit Santa. Than you are going to have
to be fair, and discredit, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc., etc., oh and
don’t forget the Boogey Man. If all good
things go, than the bad ones have to go too.
I always had my children believe in the magical things like
Santa and the others for as long as they could do it without getting embarrassed
in front of their friends. I have
actually seen children as young as five years old be told by their parents that
there is no Santa. I managed to put
doubt in some children’s minds by playing Santa without their knowledge.
Children and adults both need to have hope in their lives, after
all sometimes hope is the only thing left that we can hang on to. As long as we have hope we are likely to hang
on longer on the chance that what we desire is out of view but within grasp. I was lucky growing up, I never had a bad
Christmas. Just one time I almost did
but I hung on to hope and at approximately 9:30 Christmas Eve (I was already in
bed and asleep) Santa came through for me.
In this instance Santa was my uncle Ramon (Spanish spelling). Read the post: posted June 26, 2013 “Unexpected
Best Christmas,” http://www.being50.com/2013/06/unexpected-best-christmas.html
With regard to gift giving, the ideal would be that you could
give quality time (of your own time) to your children, and family, plus some gifts
whether purchased by you or provided by Santa (wink, wink). If you don’t have the resources do as some of
our relatives did during tough times, and create gifts with your own hands. Nothing says I love you like something made
from your own efforts, and skills. I
know that I could make my children happy by buying a small ball and playing
catch with them. I have previously said
that I’ve always worked hard, and admit that I’ve always considered myself
blessed beyond what I might deserve.
Having said that my children always have enjoyed my time in combination
with whatever toys Santa brought them.
For many years Christmas day’s most popular gifts were small plastic
guns that would shoot styro foam projectiles with suction cups for a tip. After opening all the gifts we would spend
hours playing war between two teams (the benefit of having a large family). Amongst the rules was no aiming above the
shoulders, we would turn off all the lights and each team leader had a flash
light, and definitely no hiding behind mommy or grandma. The tradition could make a re-appearance with
the grandchildren, if I can get theirs mommy’s permissions. The fun factor was that daddy was playing GI
Joe right alongside of them.
I realize that raising kids today is so much tougher thanks to
television and the internet. Kids are so
exposed to the outside world and their expectations are many times beyond that
of my children growing up. I wish all of
my readers the best, and a healthy and happy holiday season. The best is yet to come….
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