Santa.

I find the whole concept of taking your kid to the mall or wherever to see Santa a bit creepy.

I mean, you're encouraging your kid to sit on Santa's lap and all, and you and I both know that no matter how good an actor he may be, that's not really Santa. It's just...some guy.

Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays

I might be a month or so late, but I during the holiday season I was a bit too busy with holiday stuff to accurately sum up my thoughts on saying "Merry Christmas." I personally think the whole "war on Christmas" concept is bullshit. My parents are very, very Christian and attend a fairly progressive church, but even their pastor buys into this crap. I stopped going to church when I moved out of their house, but I tend to end up there on holidays when I play saxophone with their band.

This year I got to hear their pastor talk about standing up for beliefs and defending Christian values by saying "Merry Christmas" to people when they wish him "Happy Holidays." He told a story about his visit to Starbucks that morning.

Congratulations, Pastor L, on making a complete stranger uncomfortable! I'm sure Jesus would be so proud! Actually, I'm pretty sure Jesus would be ashamed, and so am I. When I wish someone well during the last two months of the year, I am not wishing myself well and whatever I am celebrating doesn't matter. I wish my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah.

If I wished them a Merry Christmas, they would probably feel a bit left out, insulted, or unappreciated.

When I wish them a Happy Hanukkah while not celebrating it myself, I am also telling them that I love and accept them for who they are. Loving people without reservation? Sounds a little like Jesus, right? Now, when I go out into the world and interact with total strangers, I don't know what holidays they celebrate. I would also like to avoid making these strangers feel left out, insulted, or unappreciated. Instead, I would like to extend the same unconditional acceptance I have for my friends. Didn't Jesus love everyone without reservation?

Saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone without knowing what they celebrate is like snubbing your nose at everyone while saying "My holiday is the only important holiday and everything else doesn't matter!" It's a selfish and small-minded attitude that ignores not only other religious holidays, but also Thanksgiving and New Years. There are a whole lot of reasons for people to celebrate during the holiday season, and the most Christ-like way to wish people well is to acknowledge anything and everything by saying "Happy Holidays". You can still say "Merry Christmas" at church and at Christmas parties, to your family and to anyone you know who celebrates it. Saying it to strangers is just obtuse and potentially unkind.

Christmas Tree

I love Christmas trees, and so do the Hellions, but for different reasons. The tree is basically a cat playground, and since we acquired the Hellions four years ago we haven't put anything breakable on the Christmas Tree. We could probably take some extraordinary measures to keep them out of it, but they have so much fun I actually feel a bit guilty depriving them of their seasonal escapades.

I am hideously allergic to real trees (pine, fir, oak, any trees, all trees) and so we always get fake ones. I like to get free fake trees on Craigslist of Freecycle and then give them away after the holidays so I don't have to store them all year. This past December I decided to get a 3' tall tree, both to save space and to maybe discourage the Hellions from enjoying it quite so much. It's too short to climb, so they can't climb it, right?

While they can't technically climb it, they can wrestle it into submission, which they did at every opportunity. The poor tree never spent more than five minutes upright for the entirety of its career here. The Hellions still had fun, though.