Before it all starts, I want to strike the first blow at the upcoming onslaught of Christmas commercialization. Last year I stopped by the local Kmart in August only to be confronted with their display of Christmas trees with all the trimmings. That’s right it was August. Fool me once but not twice, I avoided Kmart like the plague this year, no sir they weren’t going to trap me again. Who wants to start with the whole Yuletide thing when we should be listening to the Beach Boys and riding boogie boards? I remember when they used to wait until Halloween was over before they started selling Christmas. I really want it to be like it was when I was a kid.

          The real reason I started thinking about this stuff now was because of glass cleaner. I was cleaning the car windows the other day and all looked great until I drove down the street in the sunshine and all I could see was streaks. That started me thinking about what other window cleaner I could use and I recalled a product from my childhood called “Glasswax”. This stuff came in a can and dried into a white haze on the glass.  It didn’t streak like the ammonia based type cleaners. At Christmas time we used to purchase stencils made from wax paper with snowflakes, bells, sleighs and Santa. They were taped to the windows and Glasswax was dobbed on with a sponge to fill in the designs. Once they dried the stencils were removed and the windows were decorated for the holidays. (I understand that some people used spray snow but your true holiday artists used Glasswax).   

          I also remember going with Dad to buy a real cut Christmas tree. For some reason it always seemed like the coldest day of the year which made it quite the ordeal as we painstakingly selected just the right one and then had to tie it to the car with more rope than I care to measure. It always smelled great when placed in the house and I couldn’t wait to decorate it. I think my favorite part was hanging those silver strands of icicles all around the tree as neatly as possible.  We didn’t have them but some people I knew had the type of lights that bubbled when they warmed up. Trees didn’t have themes in those days, just lots of bright colorful decorations.

          Maybe it was just seeing it through all  the eyes of my childhood but it always seemed like a magical time of the year. It really began right after Thanksgiving and we weren’t sick of it by the time it arrived. After my last blog on credit cards I thought it might be wise if we all decided to approach the whole thing a little differently this year. So I have made a list and suggest you check it twice. This is my recipe for how to aim for a Merry Christmas this year.

• Stay away from Kmart and the like until after Halloween or later
• When they start playing Christmas music sixteen weeks in advance, change the station
• When the time comes to begin thinking about it, decide to avoid the useless spending on mostly unappreciated stuff
• Put some actual thought into doing something personal and meaningful for those you love
• Practice random acts of kindness toward people you don’t even know
• Spend some time reading the actual Christmas story from the Bible with family and or friends

          Now that I have espoused my holiday philosophy, let me be the the first to wish you a blessed and Christ filled Christmas. You have my permission to ignore any other mention of the subject for the next ten weeks.