What is it that makes Christmas any different than any other time of the year where giving and good will is concerned? I actually give all year long and tend to feel better and enjoy it more because it's not expected of me. I get my kids stuff throughout the year for good grades, good behavior and just cause I sometimes feel like it when I know they want something or I see something I think they'd like. I send flowers to friends and loved ones of the opposite sex on special days and sometimes just because I feel like it. My best friend is a Steelers fan and every time I see some cool Steelers thing I just get it for him. I donate regularly to charities and even give money to street people once in awhile even though I am sure they're just going to get drunk or high with it. I give away blankets and jackets and bottled water. Through all of this I have a greater sense of self satisfaction for it not being expected. I just like to do it. I like to see the smiles on peoples faces, the looks of appreciation, hear the thanks and the God Bless You's. And I enjoy it all year.

I practice good will toward men all year too. I am generally much nicer and affable whan I am not stuck in ridiculous traffic, elbowing my way through inattentive, rude and unruly crowds, dealing with screaming, destructive, unattended kids(well..that's pretty much all year..just not so many at once)and enduring the general mayhem of the Christmas shopping season in every store, even the grocery store. People bent on racing to the best deal or the last Wii or whatever it is that will keep their kids up with, or ahead of, the Jones' kids and perfectly willing to be total assholes to beat me to it even though I am not even there for that, I just happen to be in the same store walking in the same direction!

Don't get me wrong. I do like to get together with the family and friends, watching them laugh and enjoy good company and opening gifts and I especially like gorging on food at Mom's on Christmas Day(especially her fudge). It's the rest of it that wears me out. The pure commercialization of the season that begins just after Halloween. The money expected to be spent. Ad's that make me feel guilty for NOT spending a bajillion dollars. Lines full of people with baskets overflowing and credit cards at the ready...You get the picture.

I promised myself that I would not put anything on a credit card this Christmas as I have recently paid off my last credit card. I would use cash and I have succeeded. No, I didn't go all out on my gifts either. I spent a modest amount of money on my kids, who are not spoiled..well, not too badly, anyway! They had very short Christmas lists and nothing outrageous was on either one. I also made a few of teh gifts myself. Collages in pictures of the lives of my grandsons, a poem I wrote about my oldest daughter surrounding a photo of me and her. Gifts that werent very expensive, but will mean more than something off the shelf at Wal-Mart ot Target. I like to put thought into the gifts I give and I use that thought proccess all year, not just at Christmas.

Giving is not a seasonal thing to me. Love and good will should be things that happen the other eleven months of the year. It should be mandated that adverstisers not be allowed to advertise for Christmas until the first Saturday in December. OK..That's silly, but surely you see my point. I love my family and friends all the time and I like to show it all the time. I can be such an asshole sometimes and that CERTAINLY isn't something that only happens in December, so why shouldn't the caring side of my nature work all year too?

I understand the celebration of Christ's birth is(was?)the motivating force behind the Holiday, but we all know that He wasn't really born in December, and in my opinion, Easter should be the larger celebration as it marks his victory over death, his ascendence to Heaven and the promise of eternal life for all believers, but I digress and will get back on track! I hate that people are expected to give no matter their situation. That so many kids have come to expect a new laptop, a Wii or a new car for Christmas instead of just being happy to be alive when so many other kids have nothing at all and being alive isn't necessarily an enjoyable thing. It's time to remind everyone of why this even happens and I always read from Luke on Christmas Day so my family doesn't forget.

I like the lights, the cheer, the smiles and the basic good nature of the majority of the people I end up dealing with during this time of year, I just think they should do it all year long.