I don’t know or remember if I have written about this topic and tonight I am too lazy to go way back in my posts to see. I realize it is warm everywhere; well it must be because for the second time it is quite warm here in Warsaw, Indiana.
I have just been lazing today. Is that a real word? If not, it is now a Terry word. Took AJ for several walks. Showed my neighbor’s trailer. Almost had the…
I don’t know or remember if I have written about this topic and tonight I am too lazy to go way back in my posts to see. I realize it is warm everywhere; well it must be because for the second time it is quite warm here in Warsaw, Indiana.
I have just been lazing today. Is that a real word? If not, it is now a Terry word. Took AJ for several walks. Showed my neighbor’s trailer. Almost had the cash in his hand but the younger generation with the parents said, no, too small. I know the neighbor was disappointed, but I tried to boost his hopes back up. He may have alternatives if he doesn’t sell it by the end of the month.
So I did crap, but yet I stayed busy. I love watching the Waltons, and of course this was on tonight. It was a rather serious show. Christmas and the family being all together.
This hits a sensitive spot with me as each year I struggle with my emotions wondering who and who won’t be here Will there be arguing or no arguing. Will everyone bring something or should I make extra. When I was young family was just expected to attend. No questions, no doubts. Family was very important in earlier days. Now people have to work weekends, don’t get the benefits they used to get and life can suck at holidays, no doubt.
But I had to giggle throughout the show. Our culture today has been brainwashed that Christmas is all about gifts. I won’t even bring Jesus Christ into it tonight. I don’t want another post where there could be comments I don’t want to read. So just keeping on the gift giving.
Me, as a child, always got that big gift I dreamed about and I am sure I bugged my parents to death since Halloween was over. We had good Christmas mornings. We were blessed. We weren’t given the world. There weren’t gifts staggering from the tree to the hallway. We didn’t get it, but the important thing was we didn’t expect it.
Today’s world is about money. Spend big and spend what you don’t have. Not everyone, so don’t take offense, but let’s face it. If most weren’t living this way at Christmas, the sales departments would go down and another idea would be born.
I have worked with organizations where the goal is to help the less fortunate. It is truly a bigger gift than receiving when you hand a mama a bag of toys and as you wish her a Merry Christmas tears run down her face from joy.
They don’t get tons of things but what is important to them is that their kids get something under the tree. I know, I know, the system is abused. I have dealt with that too. It can tend to cause your hair to turn grey as you pick out the needles in the hay that have went to every program there is getting triple what they should; sometimes leaving the deserving short on gifts.
But all in all, we hope and pray it is fair in the end and no one suffers. Do children suffer today if they don’t get lots of gifts? I have to admit when my kids were small we did go all out. We saved and spent little on birthday’s to give more on Christmas. For me, it was more for me than for the kids. I enjoyed seeing them scream in delight, jump up and down with joy.
They may have been disappointed more because they learned to expect big times on Christmas, but if we didn’t produce so much, I think they would have been sad but would have adjusted quickly, knowing they were going to Grandma’s later that day.
Today, I would change some things. There would be less gifts and more talk about what Christmas is all about. I know I brought it up, but I wasn’t as strong in my faith then as I am now.
But laughing through the Waltons because I can see how times have changed so much. They were working hard on making sure the entire family was together and they spent sometimes days or weeks making that one special gift for each other. Some saved their pennies for months to buy something.
Today if we don’t have the money we charge. If we can’t get what they ask for we carry guilt. In the Walton days it was different. I giggled because the family got one gift a piece. I stopped giggling and started tearing up when the entire family was together, holding hands and giving thanks all around the table. When they all repeated Amen, the smiles remained and they ate together and had a wonderful Christmas.
Who I am 