Christmas And Observations

Alex, our daughter, turned to me on the morning of Christmas Eve and asked if I was going to be working on Christmas.  I told her "no" and that we were going to have a family day for the holiday.  She said that it really wouldn't be a "family" day since mommy wasn't home.  Ashley, like 1000's of other flight attendants, were working hard to get other families to their destinations for the holidays.  Little did Alex know that Ashley's schedule was rearranged last minute.  She had a 30 hour window to be able to come home for the evening on Christmas Eve from Atlanta and be here for Christmas presents in the morning and fly out again mid day Christmas to resume her schedule later that night.  Ashley was able to get a ride from the airport with our neighbors who were on the same flight and arrive to surprise the kids Christmas Eve afternoon.  Tired and sick she still made it here to share the holiday with the family and make the day very special for the kids.

As quickly as she arrived she was off again for Atlanta and the next time she saw sleep time was in Santiago, Chile.  So, yes, after getting into Atlanta from a long trip she hopped on a plane to Puerto Vallarta.  The next day she went from Puerto Vallarta back to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Santiago, Chile.  A bit crazy if you asked me but she wanted to be home for the holiday and she pulled it off.  Everything worked out and the kids were thrilled.

Our 2.5 foot fake tree.

Observations.  This time of year the marketing for gift giving on TV etc is unbelievable.  The commercial push for buying more, more, more is unrelentless.  Even as a kid I remember the toy commercials during Saturday morning cartoons and looking endlessly through the back of the Sears catalog where the toy pages were looking for ways to pad my Christmas list.  The kids knew that Christmas was coming and were excited but not crawling out of their skin like I was at their age.  We had a small tree and when the lights went out on Christmas Eve the few presents were laid out for them.   When they woke up and unwrapped their presents they were totally content and happy and went about playing with some of their gifts.  What happened?  We don't have the exposure to marketing here that we would have in the States.  No TV or radio that we listen to.  The kids spend some time on the computer but that is about it and few of their friend's families have the means or desire for excess.  Take away the avenues for the "marketing machine" to influence and what happens?  Grateful and content children on Christmas morning and in general?  Hmmm, interesting.