By Rob Oxford
The snow has melted and all the packages have been unwrapped. Many have been returned and some stores are already shifting their attention towards February 14th. The greens and reds have been replaced with pinks and purples. Santa Claus, his reindeer and packages of breakable tree ornaments have made way for Cupid, candy hearts and boxes of chocolate.
It's an undeniable fact that anymore, we're hardly given time to recover from the whirlwind of joy that just hit us like a 2 ton lump of coal before we're forced to ask someone to be our valentine.
But before the credit card statement arrives, let's spend these final paragraphs of 2017 reflecting back on the very best part of the Christmas Season.
For some it's baking goodies for neighbors with whom they speak maybe 3 or 4 times a year. For others it's the feigned laughter at a coworkers inappropriate jokes during the office holiday party. Some pretend that singing carols off-key in front of complete strangers at the local pub puts them in the spirit, while others insist it's time spent with family...huh? or simply time off work.
But let's be honest, it's all about the presents...isn't it?
Of course I'm being sarcastic, but unfortunately too much emphasis has always been put on gift giving. "I got the same thing last year", "Oh Boy! Another tie" and "Did you remember to get a gift receipt?" are familiar refrains. But as my 15 year old said recently, who by the way is used to earning his own money and with no help from Mom or Dad picking out and purchasing his own gifts to give; "People worry about the cost more than the value." Wow! That's deep.
There's probably very few of us who if we had the financial means, would give a second thought to how much something costs or how much we should spend on our spouses or children, but we live in Shoreline, not Medina.
So what is the best gift you've ever received? It's not the guitar you told your Mother you "had to have", that you never learned to play. It's certainly not the leather jacket you left behind at the nightclub you have no recollection of even visiting and it isn't the $250 pair of shoes that you'll outgrow in 6 months.
In fact, I'm going to venture to guess that the snowflake mobile made by your 3rd Grader in art class, carefully smuggled home under their winter jacket or the drawing of you and your 1st Grader having tea together or the pair of work gloves purchased by your 6th Grader with birthday money they've been saving since April, just might be the best present you've ever received and really is "just what you've always wanted".
But before the credit card statement arrives, let's spend these final paragraphs of 2017 reflecting back on the very best part of the Christmas Season.
For some it's baking goodies for neighbors with whom they speak maybe 3 or 4 times a year. For others it's the feigned laughter at a coworkers inappropriate jokes during the office holiday party. Some pretend that singing carols off-key in front of complete strangers at the local pub puts them in the spirit, while others insist it's time spent with family...huh? or simply time off work.
But let's be honest, it's all about the presents...isn't it?
Of course I'm being sarcastic, but unfortunately too much emphasis has always been put on gift giving. "I got the same thing last year", "Oh Boy! Another tie" and "Did you remember to get a gift receipt?" are familiar refrains. But as my 15 year old said recently, who by the way is used to earning his own money and with no help from Mom or Dad picking out and purchasing his own gifts to give; "People worry about the cost more than the value." Wow! That's deep.
There's probably very few of us who if we had the financial means, would give a second thought to how much something costs or how much we should spend on our spouses or children, but we live in Shoreline, not Medina.
So what is the best gift you've ever received? It's not the guitar you told your Mother you "had to have", that you never learned to play. It's certainly not the leather jacket you left behind at the nightclub you have no recollection of even visiting and it isn't the $250 pair of shoes that you'll outgrow in 6 months.
In fact, I'm going to venture to guess that the snowflake mobile made by your 3rd Grader in art class, carefully smuggled home under their winter jacket or the drawing of you and your 1st Grader having tea together or the pair of work gloves purchased by your 6th Grader with birthday money they've been saving since April, just might be the best present you've ever received and really is "just what you've always wanted".
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