In our family, we do Christmas up BIG. I am a bit of a Christmas nut, and I get a little dizzy with excitement as the holiday season approaches. I love decorating the house, adorning the tree, hanging the lights, choosing and wrapping gifts, and singing carols. And in case you were wondering, I still believe in Santa totally, 100%. But this year feels a little different.
Because I work in media, many, many of my friends and colleagues have been laid off in the past six months. Lots. I feel extraordinarily lucky to still be employed myself. This is the first time in my adult lifetime that an economic downturn has hit so close to home. And of course, aside from the jobless people I know personally, we're all aware of the huge number of Americans in all kinds of professions who will also face this holiday season without a paycheck. Times are tough.
I have always attempted to make Christmas a truly magical time for my children. Although we do give to charity each year, I have always done whatever was necessary (which has often involved working extra freelance jobs in the months leading up to December) to make sure that their own Christmas morning was rather extravagant. And since my three eeldest children have two houses (one with their father and one with me) they actually have two complete Christmases. Plus, when you add in gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles, the children really do enjoy an embarrassment of riches on the big day. And I love it.
But this year, something feels really wrong about that, with so many people hurting. So yesterday, I suggested to J. and E. that we consider letting Santa know in our letters to him that this Christmas, we would like him to take some of the gifts he would normally bring to our house and distribute them to families with parents who have lost their jobs. I explained that this would mean fewer gifts from Santa under the tree on Christmas morning, but that if they chose to do this, they would enjoy knowing that some other children were enjoying a special Christmas just like the kind they usually have.
They were open to the idea, but it wasn't a slamdunk sale on my part. J. suggested we just buy and distribute extra Angel Tree gifts this year, and I told her we can do that, but I also tried to explain that in a season when so many of our neighbors are making do with less, perhaps it would also be appropriate to have a less extravagant Christmas for ourselves, no matter how much we give to others. The idea of actually choosing economic modesty in an environment where so many around us are in need is a hard thing to explain to relatively privileged children like mine. It is, perhaps, an area where I have not done the best job as a parent.
We'll continue the conversation. And I will continue to feel really thankful to have a job, healthy children, enough food to eat, and a roof over our heads. Those are the best gifts of all.
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG
FOLLOW KATIE'S BLOGGING ON TWITTER OR FACEBOOK
READ MORE OF KATIE'S BLOGGING
