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NAUGHTY OR NICE DON'T MATTER
Published On 12-14-2008 , 4:09 PM
It's that time of year when we're reminded about that list that gets checked twice and the additional fun experience of determining who's naughty and who's nice.
But recognizing the condition of the economy, I'm truly puzzled that so many parents have determined their Christmas list is going to be big as ever.
Brenda, a single mom, has been collecting unemployment since losing her job at a small company. Everyone else in her department got the same striped orange slip and not a pink one.
"Christmas is coming down the chimney, no matter what!" she declared without a moment's hesitation as she talked to me by telephone.
Brenda said her kids hadn't done anything to bring about the horrible state of our country's economy and to not give them Christmas was like punishing them for Wall Street being shaky, banks failing and car manufacturers begging for money.
"Maybe people are making more out of this than what's real," she said and then went on to blame the media for getting people all hyped-up.
Brenda wasn't bothered about her company closing down because, she said, she's always been able to find a job. She said she was an optimist and never bowed to somebody else's definition of what she could or could not do with her money - or more to the point - with her very little bit of money.
Naughty and nice?
The folks who've lost their homes, the people who are now standing in soup lines, the ones whose cars (that they were living in) got repossessed and the ones who got the pink slips and who don't quite know what to do next, certainly don't fall into the naughty category.
Naughty and nice has little to do with who gets what this Christmas. Brenda's kids may be nice, but if she takes a few minutes to stop talking nonsense and looks, instead, at the difference between the check she used to get and the meager unemployment one she's now collecting - money, or lack of it - will surely rule.
When money gets short in the household the kids need to be in on the fact that finances have taken a downward turn.
What is it that makes our little darlings believe they're entitled to receive everything on their magic list? The answer to this is their parents.
Brenda isn't alone in believing she owes her kids a pile of presents under their Christmas tree. But let's hope she's gone further than most when it comes to ignoring her financial condition.
In these tough times, and according to the predictions, if you're not feeling it yet, you soon will be. We might be wise to check our list several times and decide who, in fact, ought to be dropped from it.
If this turns out to be the kids, so be it. But they can't just be dropped from the list without a truthful explanation about the economy and individual household circumstance.
While shopping for gifts, in the traditional way, is not in keeping with today's household income, talk to Grandma and Grandpa because they can talk up a new kind of Christmas giving list based on their own experiences of making it through hard times back in the day.
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Comment
| | 1. | The gifting notion supposedly started with the Three Wise Men.
We should all wisen up and truly figure out why we give. Naughty or nice doesn't come into play, when the bigger concerns are: shelter or food?
Phoenix
- by phxsays, 12-16-2008, 4:17 PM
| | 2. | Financial literacy would help us focus on the spiritual rather than the material during this Holy Season.
- by Beverlee Bruce, PhD, 12-15-2008, 9:32 AM
| | 3. | Shirlee,
Great, and timely piece. Yes, Christmas is gonna be a little "different" this time. And, maybe it should be, just to give us a little pause to remember what Christmas is all about. Maybe, this will cause us to put things in the proper perspective.
It's not really about who's been naughty or nice. It's more about being thankful and appreciative, and responsible. Be thankful for what you still have. Be thankful for WHO you still have. Give more of yourself, than of material things.
Prepare your kids for the real future. Prepare yourself for the real future. The economy will "rise again", it always does. But, some individuals will not be all they can be, if they don't adjust their thinking. Our kids won't learn, if we don't teach them.
Hank
- by Hank Wilfong, 12-15-2008, 8:00 AM
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