American Consequences - December 2018

THE FINAL WORD

the rest on Christmas morning. Christmas should be special for children. The Sextons aren’t Commies. And there should also be a clear exception for “gifts” that are really end-of-year gratuities and bonuses. If you tell your barber, doorman, housekeeper, gardener, etc. “sorry, I decided to go Grinch this year,” you deserve worse than just a lump of coal in your stocking. People who provide you good services all year deserve their holiday bonuses, and employees have families to buy gifts for and bills to pay. If someone is relying on you to come through with a little gift in their stocking, so to speak, then get into your best Christmas spirit and open up your checkbook. If someone is relying on you to come through with a little gift in their stocking, so to speak, then get into your best Christmas spirit and open up your checkbook. I’m merely recommending that, among adult family members, tell everyone they are free. No more gift envy or drama. Stop stressing about who spent what on whom, what size your sister’s shoes are, and all the rest of the minutia that overtakes far too much of the last few weeks of December. In my own family, it was a recurring joke that everyone could always tell which presents I was giving because it looked like “a drunk, angry elf ” was in charge of wrapping them. And they weren’t wrong. The truth is, the older I get, the less I care

about stuff on Christmas, and the more I want to focus on the experience of the holiday. The time spent with people you care about, hopefully without the burdens of imminent work hanging over your head, is a precious thing. And you will enjoy it more without being up to your elbows in the detritus of paper, ripped decorative bows, and Styrofoam peanuts across your floor. You might even take a few moments to feel truly blessed and think about the Big Guy upstairs. By all means, get a big Christmas tree, buy decorations, bust out that Menorah or Kwanzaa wreath you’ve been eager to display. If you’re one of those over-achieving MacGuyver types, cover your entire house in Christmas lights. The holiday should be festive, and anything that can be done to make it a more joyous, pleasant experience is all to the good. But Dr. Seuss was on to something decades ago when he published the story of the Grinch. That villain with a tiny heart stole all the presents from Whoville, but the villagers were singing with joy and love on Christmas morning anyway. It’s a quaint lesson, but a real one. Christmas really isn’t about gifts at all, and the more focus you take off these distractions, the more the holiday starts to serve its real purpose – to refresh, reflect, and spend time with loved ones. After all, time is the only gift you can give that you can never replace or get back. Merry Christmas, American Consequences friends and family.

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December 2018

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