Here we are the weekend before Christmas and I am sure that there are tons of people out there who are out there pushing and shoving their fellow “carbon-based life forms” in order to find that perfect gift that will eventually land on a “make me an offer” table at a garage sale 5 years from now.

While others are getting things together for their Christmas parties that basically entail either a work-related function or by people who, for some unknown reason, enjoy socializing with others of like ilk.

I am so not into decorating. Yet, I know of people who actually become “giddy with glee” over the aspect of decorating for Christmas. My mother is one of those people. My Mom is so bad that she would start pulling out the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. This woman would actually spend weeks decorating her house, and she would not do it alone either. Mom would Shanghai Dad, then when my Dad was risking life and limb hanging Christmas lights all around their two-story home, Mom then would get on the phone and try to con her kids into coming over and helping.

Well, since the 7 of us had already moved out, we could now tell Mom “No” and not worry about being grounded for our disobedience. But, as they say, “with age comes wisdom” my mother decided on a different tactic and actually hired her grandchildren to come over and help her put up all of this falderol.

Oh sure, just because I’m her son I’m expected to work for free but not her grandkids! Every year my daughter Punky would go to my parent’s house and spend the weekend helping her grandma turn her house into the second coming of Santa’s Village. Then when she was done, she’d come home with a wad of cash along with lunch at one of the best Mexican restaurants in town. If I had gone over there to help, not only would I have come home empty handed, but I’d be lucky to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of the deal.

For years I couldn’t figure out how my daughter would score so well with my folks while I was being left out to dry. So, one day I asked my daughter as she was putting the finishing touches on one of my mom’s decorations, what her secret was with her grandparents and she told me point blank. “See Dad, it’s like this. They just love me more than they love you.”

To which my mom replied, “Yep, that pretty much covers it.”

But as I look at this Christmas season and realize that the shopping actually started about 27 seconds after we took our Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven, I see that people are spending more times in the malls and online to buy gifts for people that they hardly have time for: And that’s just the people they live with. I see people getting stressed out over what is supposed to be a joyous time of year. As previously mentioned, people are decorating their homes to the degree that the event ceases to become festive and becomes more of showmanship and competition. People getting dressed up to go to Christmas parties wearing sweaters so ugly that even Stevie Wonder would go “Really? You’re gonna actually be seen in public wearing that?”

And yet in spite of it all, if you ask the majority of people why they are doing all of this running around and getting stressed out over all they have to do prepare, places to be and gifts to buy, most of the people would say “But it’s Christmas!”

As for me, I’m not much into Christmas. Oh, for the kids its great, but as an adult, I could take it or leave it. I mean, other than the purpose of celebrating the birth of Jesus here on earth, what’s the point in having Christmas?

And when you really come down to it, if you are not celebrating the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift ever given to humanity, and all that it entails, then I have one question for you. “What are you really celebrating for?”

Think about it.

Merry Christmas to all my readers and followers and a Happy New Year!

I know return you to your regularly scheduled life…already in progress.