It is that time of year.  That post where I get berated for being inclusive instead of exclusive.  I hear how offensive it is to wish someone to be well, and to have a Happy Holiday.  Yes, once again, more people are joining in on the faux War on Christmas.  This game, started (as far as I know) by Bill O’Reilly, a man so whacked, that even the top brass at Fox News don’t like him, has now been carried on by others, including this year, a particularly idiotic piece by Michael Reagan.

I find it “particularly idiotic” because he is clearly transparent in his attack.  He blames “a handful of secular progressives who loathe Christianity and any celebration associated with it.”  Apparently, it would never pierce his thin skin to realize that a Jewish person may not want to be wished a “Merry Christmas” any more than he would like to be wished a “Happy Kwanzaa.”  He doesn’t want to appear quite this crass, so he tries to bury the whole thing as people out to “destroy Christmas.”  While I do not doubt or deny there may be a few nuts out there that have this thought, most simply would like to be recognized for their beliefs even if they aren’t Christian.  Recognition that while a majority of people may in fact be Christian, we are not a theology, and that their rights and beliefs are not any better or worse.  

For all his claims to the otherwise, nobody is actually attempting to stop anybody from having a Merry Christmas, or for Christians to celebrate and recognize Christmas as the high holy holiday that it is for them.  They just don’t want to participate (and perhaps that is the problem for single minded morons like this).

He forgets, while claiming that it is “a birthday not a holiday” that the holiday has been around much longer.  I won’t go into the details about previous silliness or the historical moving of  Jesus’ birthday to coincide with the holiday, I have documented that previously, and most rational folks already know this.  But apparently he doesn’t see the irony in his own statements:

My fellow Christians should join me in pledging never again to shop in any commercial establishment where the clerks greet us with that “Happy Holiday” greeting as an insult to our religious beliefs, just as we must defend the exhibition of the menorah or other Jewish symbols at Hanukkah.

Just what Jewish symbols is he supposedly defending by demanding that it is “Merry Christmas” or nothing? And am I the only one that finds it humorous that he complains that about people being “forced” into saying “Happy Holidays” but now he wants to blackmail commercial establishments by threatening to not shop their unless he is greeted as he expects. And he goes on to say, “Have a Merry Christmas. And don’t be afraid to say that loud and clear to everyone.”  That’s right.  Don’t give a damn about who you may offend, because you are a Christian, and as such have a right to offend whomever you wish, at least according to Reagan.

So why is this?  Why is it that being inclusive to spread love to everyone so darn “offensive” to some Christians?  Does “Peace on Earth and goodwill toward man” only apply to a select few?  As the old saying goes, “Can’t we all just get along?”  Do you really need to have a crusade?

Whether it is Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Kwanzaa, I wish you and yours the best for a happy and healthy Holiday Season.

In some ways I consider myself lucky that at 8 years old, LatteGirl still believes in Santa Claus.  At least for one more year we can keep this charade alive.  Reality and real life will seep in soon enough and take away some of her childhood innocense, and anything that can beat that back for just a little bit longer is fine with me.  

She is already feeling a bit conflicted with messages from both school and Sunday school, being told the Christian mythology that Jesus is the “reason for the season.” (Please, stop the e-mails, I am not condemning any religion, but the fact is that the celebration of Jesus’ birth celebration was assigned to conincide with the Yule season.  And besides, it isn’ t the point).  Like many people, the holiday season this year will be cut back a bit as we tighten our belts and deal with economic uncertainty.  But how do you explain and rationalize that with a child that believes in Santa Claus?

We have told her (as we have over the past couple of years) that the more expensive the gifts she asks for, the fewer in number she will actually receive.  However, in the past, she just accepted this at face value.  Now however, we have to balance reasoning and questioning.  Why?  Santa doesn’t “buy” gifts, he “makes” them, so why does cost matter?  

The expense has also put a crimp in one other tradition I had started with her a few years back, where I get her to pick out at the store, one gift that she would “really, really, really” like to have, purchase that gift, and then she puts it into the Toys for Tots collection bin.  It serves at a reminder to be kind to those that are less fortunate, and also (I hope) reminds that giving isn’t just about giving up what you don’t want anymore.  (After all it is much easier to give a toy that she doesn’t actually want or like, but I try to stress to her if she would like it, so would some other child that perhaps wouldn’t get such a nice gift).   This of course is not as easy since her taste has gotten a bit more expensive.  Sure, I would love to buy a Wii a donate it, but I just don’t have that kind of money to throw around.  Also, now she queries why Santa give less to poor children.

How do you do it?  How do you instill good values, teach about being good to others, teach understanding of economic issues, stay on budget, and still keep it so that it doesn’t completely destroy the magic?  I am open to suggestions.

Since somebody chastised me on Twitter (Hi Sara) for mentioning these without giving the recipe, and I been stalling on posting because I really wanted to move away from political posting, I figured I would share what is our typical Sunday Morning breakfast in the Autumn, Pumpkin Pancakes.  

Ingredients.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1/3 cup pure pumpkin

Happy Easter to those that celebrate such things, and to for everybody else (well in the northern hemisphere) welcome to Spring (welcome to Autumn for those “Down Under”)

Not that this is a big deal for many who have kids that they probably wish would go to bed, but for LatteGirl it was a milestone.  You see she has been trying to be awake at midnight for a couple of years now, and never made it.  First time, it was about 10:30 that she went down.  Two years ago, it was 11:30, and last year 11:45.  But this year she finally made it to midnight!

And when all was said and done, she wondered what the big deal was all about.  We switched over from the Disney Channel’s Happy U Year celebration just a couple of minutes before midnight to bring in the New Year with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, as had been a tradition of both me and TheWife, even predating our marriage. It has been increasingly difficult to watch Dick since his stroke in 2004, and this year it was so bad, that the wife just let out a little moan of sadness at the sight.  It sort of took bit of wind out of the sails of the celebration, which of course, help confuse LatteGirl a bit more as to just why people go through this ritual.  We tried to explain it, but the words just sort of fell flat.  She was still happy she made it though.  And so was I.

Now that I am done feeling sorry for myself, I should probably cover some of the good things that come up this holiday season. One in particular caught me completely by surprise, and to date now would be what I would call my best present ever. It came in a slim little envelope, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was before I had even opened it. A ticket to a New Jersey Devils hockey game. Something I enjoy going to several times a year, and especially now that they have moved to the new Prudential Center which is much closer and easier to get to than the old Brendan Byrne Arena…er… I mean…Continental Airlines Arena…whoops check that now it is the Izod Center. (Did I mention how much I hate this corporate name sponsorship stuff?)

Anyway, unless I happen to be going to a game with my sister and brother-in-law this is a trek I usually make alone. But when I opened my gift, I found 2 tickets. It turns out that LatteGirl has decided that she wants to go to a hockey game with dear old dad. Now it may sound silly to some, but you can’t imagine how happy this made me. I love hockey, and always imagined I would be able to share my passion for the sport with her. As the picture to the right (circa 2001) shows, I had been grooming her for this from the very beginning.

However, as she grew older, things changed. My little fan, who I was feeding at 1 am when the Devils beat the Dallas Stars in 2000, and cheered with me for every goal, and consoled me when the Devils lost to the Avalanche in 2001, was no longer interested in sports. She was a girly-girl more interested in dolls and princesses. The Red and White Devil’s jersey was no longer fashionable enough for her (hmmm… I wonder if they have a Devil’s Jersey in pink), and she would rather watch Raven or Zach and Cody or Hannah Montana than to even think about watching a hockey game any longer. It was not as if I was heartbroken or anything. I am not one of those fans that use “we” when talking about a team I am a fan of, as if I was actually part of it. But, I was sad that I wouldn’t have this to share with her.

So, knowing that, you can imagine what a warm feeling (understatement) it was when, as I had a confused look on my face when I found two tickets, she jumped up and declared that the other ticket was for her and that she was going to the game with me.

So tonight we will eat overpriced greasy junk food, snap some pictures (so that I have proof that this isn’t all just a dream), survey the landscape for tomorrow’s outing to find out where the MileyWorld bus will be set up before the concert (hey I gotta make some concessions here), and cheer on the Devils as they take on the Buffalo Sabres.

Regardless of the outcome of the game, tonight, at least for a night, I am the winner.

There was something wrong with me this holiday season.  I know it, but I don’t know exactly what it was.  Nothing felt “right”  nothing seemed to fit quite as it should (I don’t mean clothing smart ass), and it was all rather uncomfortable.  I am actually quite happy that the majority of it all is now in the past, and I can hope for a better mood next year.

I know to stop and appreciate everything I have.  I am very fortunate.  And I was able to at least recognize that this year.   In my head anyway.  It still just never felt right.  By all weights and measures, this should be a dream, but it wasn’t.  Yet 5 years ago should have been a nightmare, and that may have been one of the best years ever.

5 years ago, I was working at Toys R Us because every dang technology company seemed to not have any openings after everybody that got laid off between the Dot Com Bust and the mess of 9/11.  Those that did have positions, would not hire me me because I had too much experience and they were sure I would bolt as soon as the economy got better.  So instead I was working 60 hours a week at Toys R Us, busting my ass for way too little money.  We were financially struggling to survive.  IRAs and 401Ks emptied.  No savings left.  We were just trying to find a way to hold onto the house.

Xmas that year was obviously going to be a difficult one for presents.  But LatteGirl was 2-1/2, and this was the first Xmas LatteGirl really fully understood Santa Claus and presents.  We couldn’t just “skip” Xmas.  So, I took every hour of overtime that they would give me.  I would rummage through the items that were going to hit the clearance tables to see what bargains I could find that I might be able to afford.  Meanwhile, the rest came from a few rummage sales and a few visits to several different dollar stores looking for items that weren’t junk quality.

By the time Xmas morning rolled around, we had a decent “stack” of presents from Santa, that looked like a lot, but in the end cost us less than $40 total.  While in some ways I felt bad, and swore to myself that we would never go through that again, it was still quite a Xmas.  LatteGirl was still thrilled with what Santa gave her, we had a great day, and everybody was happy.

This Xmas by comparison was easy.  Thanks to the extra week between Thanksgiving and Xmas, I had most presents bought and they were wrapped ahead of time.  This was the first Xmas in I don’t know how long that I wasn’t doing something that required me to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning, such as baking or assembling one of Santa’s gifts, etc.   This year LatteGirl seemed to learn to actually stop and look at what she got when she opened each present rather than unwrapping, tossing on a pile to get to the next present to be unwrapped.

I’ve had signs.  In one case literal, a snarky billboard (or more precisely a picture of a billboard) that I saw somewhere, had the saying on it, “Santa Likes Rich Kids Better.”  Or some excellent blogging, like this wonderful post by Whit that really made me think.  And yet, you would think that after only 5 years, I would remember how tough I had things then, and would be thrilled, and yet I am not.

I know somewhere in here I am supposed to put the requisite message that money can’t buy happiness and all that.  But while true, it is just a bit too cliché, and I am feeling too grumpy today to be cliché.

We’ve tried it at Easter, we have tried it at Halloween, so it only seemed right that we give it a shop and check out Christmas at Hershey.  Of course we made these plans some time ago, but even then at the time, I mentioned to a few friends how we could almost bank on it snowing or something that weekend.  I guess I shouldn’t have tempted fate, and now we are getting hit with snow.  Here at home, closer to the ocean, we only got a couple of inches before it turned into rain, but the forecast for the weekend in Hershey,PA is not all that promising.

I’m not complaining really, I am really looking forward to seeing the Sweet Lights, a two mile drive through light display,  LatteGirl is just about thrilled at the thought of playing in “Christmas” snow  (I believe it was the magic of “Christmas Snow” that enabled Frosty to “un-melt” again if I am not mistaken) even if it does mean that Candy Cane Lane (the selection of rides at Hershey Park that are still open this time of year) is canceled  , and of course TheWife once again will be treated to an afternoon at The Hershey Spa.

I am just hoping that I can actually get to the store this evening through the ice to pick up my new camera, to photgraph these travels, as I am hopeful that the snow will make for some great shots, because my current (hunk of junk) Kodak is just not up to the task.

I can’t help but wonder what I was thinking scheduling this so close to Xmas.  I have shopping to do, and work to be done, and I don’t have time for this right now.  It is frustrating in a way, and it seems like it will add more stress later, but the more that I think that I scheduled this at the “wrong” time, the more I also think that this is exactly the kind of break from the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

Despite the (semi-true) claims, especially after the Dot Com bubble burst that brick-and-mortar stores were not “at risk” because of Internet based shopping, there continues to be a stream (ok, maybe more like a trickle) of companies that continue to fall.  The lastest is CompUSA, who announced the sale of the company with the intent of closing the business.

Now certainly there were other factors besides the Inetnet at play here.  The comapany for a number of years now lost its  way.  They struggled from a time where they were the only show in town, to when they tried to be a “gaming shop” bringing in Nintendo and Sega (this was a while ago) stations for people to sit down and try out games at, to dedicating entirely too much space to an underselling Apple department, to when they decided to try the televisions sets sales to be a sort of quasi-electronics store equivalent.

You could blame a poorly trained, quick turnover, underpaid staff for their problems at least in part, but so far places like Best Buy are managing to not only survive but thrive with this sort of staff.  And speaking of which additional competitors such as  Wal-Mart of course forced down the margins and stole customers from the seemingly overpriced CompUSA.   Again though, Best Buy and (too a much lesser extent) Circuit City have managed to survive against these problems.  So what is the difference?  The Internet.  Those that continue to survive or even thrive in the current market have pleasant or even downright easy Web presences.  CompUSA never quite got this right.

So now, I will remember CompUSA along with other since dead companies that couldn’t keep up with the world, such as Egghead Software,  ComputerLand, Nobody Beats The Wiz (outside the Northeast, you probably don’t remember this one), AT&T (The  original, not the  SBC rebranded  version),  and Computer  City (which oddly enough was bought out by CompUSA) among others.

Of course the nice thing about this, is if you have one of the remaining CompUSA stores near you, there may be some nice sales to be had, which is always nice during the holiday season.

I am not Jewish, and though admittedly I do have some friends who are, I just always assumed that certain things were “known” about the Jewish faith in general. Things like, they do not eat products made from pigs. Now, yes I do realize that not every person that is Jewish keeps a kosher home or follows all the dietary requirements that are dictated. That being said, I can come up with no reason that an advertiser would try and entice shoppers with a Hanukah ad for Ham! (follow the link for pictures to the”offending” products)

One thing that is quite helpful in some regards, but makes me uneasy at times is when people ask what they should get LatteGirl for Christmas.  On the one hand I am appreciative that they ask, because unlike some people (*cough* mother-in-law *cough*) who have a tendency to buy things that drive me insane.  On the other hand, it makes me a bit uncomfortable trying to answer it properly, without feeling stupid.

How do you properly answer that?  Do you provide a list of items for them to choose from?  And if so, how do you go about finding out what they decide to do?  I mean, how many “lists” can you provide with distinctly different items to avoid overlap?  And then what about items you want to make sure you want to get, you need to know what they are going to do, so you can plan accordingly.  If you go the other way and tell them an item, how do you decide what to tell them?  I don’t want to push somebody into a position for a gift that is more expensive than they intended to spend.

Something so simple, and in actuality probably quite helpful, so it prevents having to return items, or having LatteGirl disappointed when somebody gave her a third copy of the same toy that year, on the other hand, and yet one that drives me insane in coordinating.  How do you handle your gift coordination?

It has been one heck of a “weekend” around here, and I feel like I haven’t stopped since Tuesday night. Wenesday and Thursday were obviously all about the cooking. Which amazingly went better, and was more organized than ever. It turns out that I don’t actually have to run around like maniac. I can actually plan out times, and get everything on the table at the correct time, still hot and the earth will not stop spinning casting us all into outer space. Who knew?

But as it has become tradition, the three days following is TheWife’s time to get away from it all. Three days at a spa up in the Catskills of New York (are there other Catskills?), leaving me, LatteGirl and the two doggies. I thought keeping a child entertained would get easier as she got older. More able to entertain herself, and less of a need for Daddy for every activity. But with one small exception that does not seem to be the case around here. If anything, it has been the complete opposite. A few years ago, all I needed was a couple of coloring books, a Bear in the Big Blue House – Dance Party! DVD, and except for the possibility (OK, the it was highly likely) of having to rewind back to the beginning of the Bear Cha-Cha a couple of dozen times, I was usually good until lunchtime to get things done around the house.  That is apparently no longer the case.

We have been trying to keep LatteGirl more active and spending less time in front of the television.  Which is easy during soccer season, or when she has Karate or Dance lessons on Saturdays… of a normal two day weekend.  Now we have three days, and no organized activities.  She finished her homework in about an hour.  She spent another hour or so doing additional math and spelling work in some workbooks we picked up for her (she did this without prodding or coaxing, clearly proving she takes after somebody other than me).  She then declared she was bored, and needed some daddy time.

If it wasn’t for a holiday parade that her school marched in (and another mother took her to), I would have been in some serious trouble.  What did we manage to cram into three days?  Baking Cookies, Painting wooden crafts, we saw Enchanted, we saw Bee Movie, we went bowling, and we put up christmas decorations in the house.  Finally by Sunday afternoon she was finally ready to unwind a bit, and as we embarked on the Christmas decoration part of our weekend, we slowed our pace so that we could watch Frosty, Rudolph, Here comes Santa Claus, and of course Merry Christmas Charlie Brown.

I am so ready to go back to work and get some rest.

It felt a bit weird going to see the Christmas Spectacular before Thanksgiving, but I was able to secure discounts on some tickets (not the best seats in the world, but certainly good enough, and on sale… a great combination).

I found the show to be, shall we say less than stellar. Matter of fact, I had to go splash some water in my face to keep from falling asleep. I was however in the minority in this opinion. TheWife thought the show was “fantastic,” and LatteGirl rates the show “just too awesome.”

The biggest thrill for the kids seemed to be the new 3-D movie of “Santa’s sleigh ride to New York” and I saw LatteGirl duck out of the way of “flying packages” on several ocassions during the brief film.

This year celebrates the 75th anniversary of Christmas Spectacular.  And for all those years, they have maintained certain dance numbers which everybody has come to expect, including   the Rockettes own version of “The Nutcracker” and “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”  For me personally, my favorite number was “New York at Christmas” where the dance number took place on a touring style Double Decker bus that appeared to be whisking the Rockettes around to he various landmark sites of New York City.

Also in tribute to the 75th anniversary, the had what they called their Christmas Memories Card, a nice video tribute to the show, that takes you back and tells you about significant dates and information, from the very beginning when the Rockettes were originally called the Roxyettes, the Rockettes going on tour with the USO to help entertain the soldiers during WW II, and the near closing of Radio City Music Hall in the late 70′s.  I found it a nice piece of trivia, and enjoyed watching it, but many around me (especially the little ones) got a bit antsy during this part.  I would have expected this to be something on a screen in the lobby, playing over and over for people as they entered the theater, rather than being part of the show.

This was my first return to Radio City Music Hall since it was refurbished in the late 90′s, and it looks as fabulous as ever.  There were enough stations that it made it fairly simple considering the large crowd to still get your souvenirs and beverages, although the stiff prices charged made for plenty of kids that walked away with nothing.  Personally, I got a popcorn and Diet Coke for TheWife, a Strawberry Daquiri (yes, non-alcoholic) and Pretzel for LatteGirl, and a coffee for me, for the low price of $35 dollars.  Normally, LatteGirl collects the programs for these events, but for another $35, we opted to pass on it this time.

Yes, I do know and fully expected it to be expensive.  Going to a show in New York always is.  But, at the same time, the shows are usually worth the money, and overall I would have to say that this years version of the Christmas Spectacular didn’t disappoint.

Update:  My apologies for the somehow, prematurely published version that I goofed earlier)

What is Guaranteed to bring a smile to my face regardless of how bad a day it is? I am so heading straight there after work. I am in more dire need a of Triple Venti Ginger Bread Latte than any man in history.

The Perfect Storm of Halloween Candy.  LatteGirl and TheWife made their way over to LatteGirl’s school for “Trick or Trunk”  (For those not familiar Trick or Trunk is sort of like an abbreviated trick or treat game.  Parents from the school all park in the parking lot, standing by their trunks (get it?) and the kids go Trick or Treating from car to car.  The good thing about this is that basically you (presumably) can trust all the candy that your kids get, and (yeah right) there is no need to go door to door trick or treating (this second part is a joke).  The bad thing is that this provides huges amounts of candy for the kids (that isn’t so bad), with them having to cover minimal ground to get it(this is where the problem exists).

So now LatteGirl had met up with her BFF from school and they “work the parking lot” together for candy as the mother’s look on.  (Don’t worry where I am, we will get to that in a minute.)  Afterwards the girls then want to “start” trick or treating, so the mother’s decide to allow the girls to hit any house along the way back from school to the BFF’s house.  That as it turns out is 1/2 mile away.  So by the time they finished they had not one but two large bags EACH, brimming with candy.

Meanwhile back on the home front, I sat patiently awaiting trick or treaters.  This has been a dying tradition on my block.  Unfortunately, there are far too many people on my block that don’t participate.  Thus leaving the block rather dark.  So the kids come less and less.  This year looked to be starting out differently, as we got about 10 kids within the first 1/2 after I got home from work.  But then… nothing.  It was like they all disappeared.  I could hear kids several blocks away.  I could see them walking down the main street.  But very few ventured our way again the rest of the night.  The few that did were handsomely rewarded with huge amounts of candy.  But even with that, I was left with quite a bit.

After sorting through the stuff that nobody like, TheWife and I each taking a plastic pumpkin full of candy to work, each we still have more candy than (I think) any one location (short of a candy store) should have at any one time.  So, what do you do with your “overflow?”

Over at Notes from the Trenches (and technically via Parenting before that), there were a question and an intersting issue raised.  Being the windbag that I am on some issues, I thought it better to post a response that fill comments.  Plus I wanted to see what some others thought as well.

Now the first, is the question of is there an age limit for Trick or Treating?  Personally I don’t hold it against older kids to go trick or treating.  I do sort of have my own personal “rules” on it though.  I will usually indulge them less (one piece of candy whereas I tend to give the little ones a bit more since they will not be walking as much, and hence not getting to as many houses), and secondly, I “expect” a costume.  Walking around in your street clothes and carrying a pillow case doesn’t cut it for me.  If you want the spoils of the holiday, you have to at least make an effort.  So do you have an age limit for trick-or-treaters?

The second point was raised, as sort of an aside where Chris ranted “about parents who let their kids run wild on Halloween night with no supervision.”  Now this one I really have to admit struck me as odd.  I guess because my thinking is  virtually opposite.  In a way, I feel sorry for kids today.  When I was a wee lad (granted this was quite some time ago), I think I was six the last time my mother took “the walk” with me to go trick or treating.  After that, she decided it was entirely too much walking, and I was off on my own to go trick or treating from the time I got out of school until dinnertime, and then (when I was a bit older) again for another couple of hours after dinner.

Today, it is so much different.  Going trick ‘o treating after school is a virtually fruitless endevour (at least around these parts) as most people are in work, and even half (or more) of the kids are in some sort of aftercare program.  So the time to gather goodies has become relegated to an after dinner event.  And then after a long day of work, preparing dinner, etc.  a parent has to then waltz their kid around the neighborhood, and they more often (except for the littlest of frolickers) worn out and tired first.  Thus limiting how much time the child has to “make the rounds”

Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand WHY parents do it.  I do it as well.  We worked out a bit of a plan, where TheWife takes LatteGirl out first, and I stay at home to give out the candy, and then we switch roles, this ensures we are home for those looking for candy, while allowing LatteGirl to get her fill of Halloween fun without one of us getting too worn out to continue.  But I still feel sad that I don’t feel safe to let her just traipse around the neighborhood on her own.  And if you live in an area where you feel comfortable with that sort of arrangement, I must admit, I am a bit jealous.  Halloween is about candy, but it is also about a bit of mischeif, mindless frolicking about.  And these days, that is completely lost.

We were spoiled at the original Daycare/Pre-school that LatteGirl had attended.  The school was fantastic, the people personable, it was clean, and the only days it was closed were major holidays that we had off anyway or snow days that also closed the area schools as well as TheWife’s office, so we were (almost) never left in a bind other than days when LatteGirl was ill.

Fast forward, last year, we regretted out choice of Aftercare program almost from the start.  It is not as if we made the “wrong” choice per se.  We evaluated what few options were available, and selected what I can only describe as the least evil of the choices.  In order to avoid recounting too much pain and disappointment, suffice it to say we knew that we needed to find another option, and was part of our consideration when we decided to move LatteGirl into private school.

We found a school that offered everything (we though) we wanted.  A good school, good academics, small class size, and affordable enough that we could swing it, and an aftercare program right in the school.  It brought us mentally back to the days of the original Pre-K school.  She wouldn’t need to travel from the school to aftercare, she had friends, their were people available to help her with homework.  What a win.

As is often the case with things that are too good to be true, there is usually a dilema that you wind up facing, and the aftercare program has one flaw that caught us off guard and left us scrambling a bit.  And that dilema is what to do with 1/2 days and days off that are not holidays.  Somewhat obviously the aftercare program is not in session on those days.  Even in the aftercare program that we didn’t like, since it was not tied directly to the school, they were open during these times and we had “coverage.”  So on a 1/2 day they just picked LatteGirl up earlier.  During things like Holiday and Spring break, sure we had to pay more for those weeks since she was attending “full time” but we had somewhere for her to go and something to do.  Unfortunately now however that is not the case any longer.

So now we find ourselves juggling schedules even more than usual, trying to find which days we can swap and trade to not lose (too much) work or risk our employment, but still manage to have somebody home.  We have managed fairly well so far, but after just going over the schedule for Spring Break we find ourselves a bit worn.

We are fortunate that I can work from home somedays without my client getting too annoyed, and TheWife’s job has some flexibility.  Others may not be as fortunate, and so I thought I would provide this warning, to take into consideration the “gaps” in your daycare/aftercare coverage ahead of time.  Do you have relatives that perhaps may be able to babysit for a couple of afternoons?  Is their another program in the area that will take your child for just those extended periods off like Spring Break week?  Especially when looking for a different program for those weeks it is worthwhile, even important to check ahead.  There are teacher/student ratios that need to be considered by the facility and they may wind up booked to capacity and even if they wanted to accomodate you, they may not be able to as other kids filled the empty slots first.

Thinking ahead  is much easier and more productive than trying to scrambe for a solution later.

Back to work. Back to the grind. Back to the everyday. Back to sanity.

The 2006 holiday season has come and gone, and for some reason, I am more than happy it is all over. I never really got into the spirit of things this year. I can’t really put my finger on a single reason why, though a bunch of little things may have come into play.

For example last year, I was working in NYC not far from Rockefeller Center. So I saw the Tree come to town early, I saw the lighting, I got to see the unveiling of the Saks 5th Ave. Window Displays (photos in Flickr if you didn’t see them already). Working in an Office Park in the New Jersey suburbs just give off the same electricity. I don’t miss the hassles of getting in and out of NYC, but I certainly do miss the rest.

Plus, I don’t get the benefit of passing 5 Starbucks on my walk into and from the office as I did before. My apologies to Starbucks stockholders everywhere, as I am sure my lack of face time in the outlets has certainly caused a dip in the price of the stock.

Most people this time of year dread the putting away the holiday decorations, but I… well… actually I am not much of an exception. However, what I find even more daunting this year is integrating that new mountain of stuff that LatteGirl acquired this year. As I mentioned earlier, this year seemed to end the era of “little girl” toys. This year we have a telescope, and a microscope, pottery wheel, metal detector (she want to look for treasure at the beach), a knitting machine, and other assorted items that can’t just be tossed in a box or on a shelf like a bag full of Polly Pocket Toys (note to self, when “tossing” container full of Polly Pocket toys, ensure the lid is on securely, or you will be picking up tiny pieces of plastic for quite some time).

New Years came quietly here. LatteGirl feel asleep (again) at 11:45 pm, leaving me and the wife watching the final few minutes of Hanna Montana as a way to ring in the New Year. Oh yeah, this house is Where the Wild Things Are

That is the only explanation I can come up with. I did all my Christmas Shopping, late as usual but with more than enough time to get everything here for the holidays. Then, once those deadlines for shipping have passed, the e-mail start rolling in. “Sorry out of Stock,” “Shipment Delayed,” etc. etc. So now, to fill the void, the weekend before Christmas, I still have to go shopping!

This is so unfair. I swear this is some sort of Karma kickback for something I did to somebody. I even considered looking towards the Bible for some answers. What did I find? “…Latte Man the cross maker was the richest man in all of Galilee…” Ah… That explains it.

Oh well, a shopping I will go. Wish me luck. Oh, and in case this is the last time we see each other before then (or I get trampled at the mall) . Best wishes to you and yours for this Holiday Season.

If you still plan on buying Holiday Gifts online, for many (most? all?) today is the last day you can place an order and get it before Christmas without having to mortgage your house for shipping charges.

Your welcome.

Regular Post will be below this one later, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say, From our Family to yours, best wishes for a safe and

Happy Halloween!

Now, I feel quite certain that most readers of this blog (I guess that would mean both of you), are already fairly well versed in being careful and attentive parents, but just in case somebody happens to stumble by here by accident, or would like to point somebody clueless towards it, here are some safety precautions to ensure Halloween remains fun and that the only scares are the “trick” kind.

1. Don’t allow children to trick-or-treat alone. Older kids should TAKE A FRIEND and young children should be accompanied by an ADULT.

2. Accompany children to the door of every house they approach.

3. Familiarize yourself with every house you visit and all people from whom your children receive treats.

4. Tell kids NOT to enter any home without permission from their parents or guardians.

5. Tell kids NOT to approach vehicles, occupied or vacant, unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

6. Give children lights to carry – like a glow stick or flashlight — along with reflective clothing.

7. Make sure that children can see and breathe properly and easily through facial masks.

8. Use only flame-resistant costumes and masks.

9. Warn children NEVER to approach any house that is not well lit.

10. Remind children to make note of suspicious incidents and report them to parents, guardians and/or the proper official.

11. Instruct children to run away, scream, and make a scene if anyone tries to grab them or force them, in any way, to go with them.

12. Inspect all of your children’s treats and dispose of anything that has been tampered with or is not wrapped.

3 hours. You wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult to entertain children for three hours would you? We had Pumpkins for decorating, crafts, games, toys, prizes, stories and food. At one point we wondered if we had gone overboard. I mean after all, how much can you fit in three hours, right?

Well…ummm… no. Wrong.

It turns out, without a staff in place so that you can whisk them from one activity to another having everything in place so they do not have a moment to pause, a group of 6 girls and two boys can in fact get bored, or out of control, or crazy in a matter of seconds of not being fully entertained.

We finally decided to, despite the slightly wet grass, allow the kids to just cut loose in the yard, and “run it off.” This of course was not without its own ways to drive a person to drink. Every child wanted multiple chances to go across the monkey bars. This had two problems. One, the monkey bars on the swing set we have goes across the swings. You can not have one person on the swings, and another going across the monkey bars at the same time. Second, only one child could actually accomplish going across on her own, everyone else needed to “assistance” (OK, lets be honest here, I basically needed to carry them across, but just slowly enough so they could moves their hands from bar to bar so they could pretend to actually be doing it).

Now, to be honest, overall the kids were really good. Well, all but one. Not that this one particular girl was outright “bad” but she was always the one to instigate things, to rile up the others, to be counted on to do the one idiotic stunt (like deciding she was going to start pretending to be a ninja and kicking anyone and anything she could – not to be malicious, but “just because”).

TheWife and I tend to disagree on this. I thought this party could have been perfect had this one child not been invited. TheWife thinks I over-react (perhaps it has something to do with this Migraine I developed by the time it was over), and that the girl is a “sweetheart” and we can’t just exclude her (even though we have since Pre-School days known that she is ALWAYS this sort of problem.). I think, I do not need to have our events suffer, because she has some uncontrollable need to be the center of attention, even if she winds up being destructive to do it.

Her mother is a very nice lady, and tries very hard to keep her child under control. She threatened and warned her child about her behavior on several occasions, which would work briefly, only to start again.

What do you think? Would you omit a child that has a history of getting out of control?

Overall, despite the issues and pitfalls, everybody had a great time. TheWife thought the party was a huge success, as did LatteGirl who is already thinking about her “next party.” Even I, migraine and all, thought things were good, although, I am not sure I can handle a “next party” until perhaps next Halloween.

So, I am counting Hersheypark as Part I, and obviously Halloween itself will be Part III, but this weekend, I face Part II, the scariest part of Halloween for me this year. Why is this the scariest? Well, because tomorrow afternoon, I will have seven 1st graders in my home for a Halloween Party. Seven. Seven sugar-filled kids bouncing off the walls in the living room.

What the hell were we thinking.

Back in May, when TheWife and I were obviously still in control of our senses, we were wise enough to know that this was probably not a good idea, and had two birthday parties for LatteGirl. One for the family at home, and one for the kids that we held elsewhere. We knew plainly that having that many kids in one place was not good for the long term prospects for our home, furniture, etc.

But LatteGirl flashed us those baby blues, and said please in the sweetest way, and has show more enthusiasm for Halloween this year, other than the standard “can’t wait to go trick-o-treating.” So we melted. Melted like a Hershey Bar on the dashboard of a car on a hot Florida day.

I’m joking of course. Sort of. I don’t mind the party. I am actually looking forward to it. But I am dreading what the aftermath is going to look like. Of course none of that is stoping me from baking cupcakes and cookies and coating things in brightly covered frosting (more sugar) and preparing it for the kids.

We purchased assorted games and crafts, we have music and munchies, will order in pizza, and we have more than enough to keep these little goblins at bay and entertained for the afternoon. I hope.

Stay tuned.

Well, we have costumes already for LatteGirl and TheWife, soooooo…. being in the Halloween spirit already, we have already pulled out the Halloween Decorations and started doing up the house.

LatteGirl had declared that “cutesy” is out this year and wants everything to be scary. Which is quite a departure from the norm for her, but I guess is in keeping with her making the switch this year from being one sort of Disney character or another to being a witch!

So… Are we jumping the gun, decorating a full month before Halloween? Seems OK to me, I mean what the heck, stores have had their Halloween stuff out for two weeks already, and by mid October you will probably start seeing Christmas stuff on their shelves.

It is only a bit more than a month right now until Halloween. Do yourself a favor. Get your kids to decide on a costume and go get it NOW! Don’t wait until the last minute.

We have never, ever waited on getting LatteGirl’s costume. In several cases, because we acquired it from the Disney Store (can you say overpriced?), we had her costume literally MONTHS ahead of time.

Back in the days before child, I often had to start on my costume early, because I usually made all or part of the costume myself. Those days are gone, unfortunately since it would now become a choice between making a costume and and the few hours of sleep I am actually managing to get. Obviously sleep wins. And the past couple of years due to work, etc I have waited until the last minute to try and grab a costume. Oh sure, by the time I went, they were “on sale.” But the things that became obvious were, first the reason the costumes remaining were on sale, was because nothing that was left was anybodies first choice (things like Jar Jar Binks costumes, and worse), second they figured they needed to give you a couple of dollars off so that you could purchase some Aleve on the way out. It was a battle zone as procrastinators, fought for each and every one of these costumes.

Yes, I have added some links over on my sidebar, and if you happen to decide to click on one, and you wind up buying a costume, I will make a few pennies (see my Disclosures and Policies). But, please. Don’t click if you don’t want to. Shop at Target, Wal-Mart, whereever. Just stop procrastinating. I did not post this today as some ruse (ala PayPerPost [note lack of linkage there]). I put the links up now, and wrote this today, because looking at the calendar reminded me that I swore I would not go through that war zone again. And If I can save just one other person from that this year, I will feel as though I have done my job to make the world a better place.

I know you are all wondering, “What did Latte Man get his wife for Valentine’s Day?” Well, I will now end the suspense. But before I do, please allow me to point out up front, we have some ground rules that have always applied to Valentines Day. No Roses (because it is just stupid to pay such a premium for roses), and no giant extravagent boxes of chocolate.

So, with that being said, I will tell you what the Latte Man did for Valentine’s Day. We started things out with a bang with the New Pink Motorola Razr phone. I of course had to provide all the pink accessories as well, including the newly released matching Pink Bluetooth headset. And nothing this pink or girly could of course be allowed to be purchased with also getting the hot pink carry case for the phone.

I sent her off to work with those gifts. When she arrived home, she was greeted by 2 cards (one from me, and one of course from LatteGirl). Two “small” boxes of chocolate (hey, I never said, I didn’t find ways around our rules), and a bouquet of flowers that LatteGirl picked out (no roses).

Finally just before the day came to an end, I pulled out one last final gift. Nothing as fancy (or expensive), as the earlier gifts. I found a frame that said, “Mommy and Me” in which I placed a picture of her and LatteGirl in from last summer. I think with that gift, I could have forgotten all the others and still made her day.

Spending New Years Eve home watching Disney Channel’s Totally Suite New Years Eve, seeing if LatteGirl can actually make it to midnight this year. Last year she made it to 11:40, but she was still taking naps back then. She has made it a few time since then (much to my dismay), but since starting Kindergarten in September she has settled into an earlier bed time since. So it is anyone’s guess whether or not she can.

DietCokeWife is going to try as well. She hasn’t been up at midnight since she got pregnant. Even money says she doesn’t make it.

Anyway, from our family to you and yours, Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year.

I have forgone the usual list of things that I usually Resolve to change in the coming year and usually have failed at by February.

This year my resolutions are:

1. Buy Organic. The reason is of course to rid not only my body of chemicals but to offer safer non engineered foods for my daughter.

2. Support Family Farms. – Fortunately Number 1 feeds into this (no pun intended). But also buying only Free Range Eggs and Chicken, buying from Farmer’s Markets as opposed to sumermakets when I can.

Why? Because I saw this:

3. Get involved in my local Government. Like many people, I have complained, Politicians are crooks! why are there no good people to vote for? Well, for the sake of my daughter, my town and my state I will no longer stand by the sidelines. Whether it be by actually running for Town Council (currently a consideration) or just going to every town council meeting and voicing my opinion and letting the politicians know I am paying attention and holding them accountable, making a difference now starts with ME… not somebody else.

Like I said, not your typical resolutions, but ones that I think are important not only to me, but to those I love.

I wish you and yours Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

I received this as a Christmas Gift. Completely unexpected, nothing could have made me happier.

I planned to post during the Holiday weekend, I planned to post a lot actually. But as the saying goes, “The best laid plans of mice and men who drink too much caffeine…” (or something like that).

So, now I will attempt to encapsulate the events and emotions that made up my this weekend, with enough detail to tell the tale, but short enough to keep you around to read it through. (hmmm…I may have to break this down over a few days. So I will give provide the “Reader’s Digest first with detail to follow over the next couple of days… complete with photos.)

So when last we left our hero LatteMan he was struggling with some holiday blues, but trying to fight his way through it.

Friday evening. Spirits are lifted as soon as I come through the door. LatteGirl is suffering from Christmas Hyperactivity and it is infectious. We bake, and bake, and bake, make some more chocolates, and bake some more. In between each batch of cookies, we rush to the living room to watch TV in 9-13 minute spurts between batches coming out of the oven. (Bonus: Target did manage to get the package delivered on time. Kudos for the expedited shipping and a job well done. They have re-earned my respect and business in the future).

We went through all the classics, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Year without a Santa Claus and of course, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. (It is amazing how short these shows are when you take out the commercials.) Once LatteGirl finally passed out, I turned to my *new* holiday collection (New in me making them in my mind a “collection” and “tradition”). My holiday collection is a bit eclectic. An American Christmas Carol (starring Henry Winkler), The Ref, Home for the Holidays, Scrooged and The Family Man.

When all was said and done… One Gross of cookies (a dozen dozen or 144 for those counting along at home). It was well past 3 AM (maybe 4) by the time I actually packed it in. This would cost me dearly as…

Saturday – morning rolled around way too fast and early for me. I was in good spirits, but the euphoria of my bake-a-ton wore off and was now exacting revenge on my body. I also may have started coming down with a cold, as I found myself, sluggish all day long. I did bake the Beary Christmas Cake, and 6 dozen Sugar Cookies. Oh, and went to K-Mart for a couple of last minute items. And did manage to keep LatteGirl entertained which was growing harder by the moment as she could barely contain her enthusiasm for Christmas. So although I was feeling drained, Christmas cheer was running high.

Christmas Day – It is impossible to do this justice in a brief synopsis. But I will say this. I feel like I have been blessed with the best child in the world. Her enthusiasm (well no duh), but also her taking time to say Thank You and to show appreciation, not for “The Gifts” but each single gift was worthy of a pause and a show of gratitude, as if it was the only gift she received and had never gotten a gift before. We had Christmas dinner at my mom’s house. With her poor health, I am grateful now for every Christmas I can spend with her. Last year, her health and the passing of my father left her unable to entertain which made her quite miserable. My sister and I would gladly take over the “duty” of playing host to the family, but this year thank goodness her health is stable and she was back to having the family come to her, which was important to her.

Monday – DietCokeWife was off to the “After Christmas Sales” and LatteGirl and I played with her new toys. No pressures, no deadlines, no worrying about work. It was all about her and I having a “play date.” When the day was over, as we read her goodnight story, she stopped, gave me a kiss, and thanked me for a great day. Who cares about anything else, that was the greatest gift I could ever get.

Show ‘em Santa is watching with:

Santa Clause Naughty/Nice Meter

http://www.claus.com/naughtyornice/nn_hmpg2.php

I have fought a good battle this holiday season, with the Fox News induced, “War on Christmas” Nazi’s. I have defended the Targets, K-Marts, and other retailers that have opted to simply use “Holiday Sales” rather than “Christmas Sales.” Do these retailers even know I am doing this? Of course not, that is not the point.

Target, one of the biggest uh… “targets” of this Christmas Police, however, now at the last minute has driven a stake right through the heart of my shopping. Keeping gifts a secret can sometime be difficult in our caffeine laden home. This year, there was to be a surprise present from Grandma (my mom) that even DietCokeWife didn’t know about.

Talks were had, plans were made. Located the item on line, ordered it FRIDAY rather than the last minute Monday (they claimed “Order up until December 19th), just to be safe. In Stock. Place Order. Everything was good in the world. Or so I thought.

At 8PM yesterday… Tuesday… I am sent an e-mail that my order has been delayed, and that it would not most likely arrive by the 23rd as promised. “If it is too late, then you can return it”

If????

IF????

I can not change the delivery type, so even if I was willing to spend the $1.2 Billion FedEx or UPS charges for a Saturday delivery, and they now somehow were able to get it out by the 23rd for it to arrive ontime, I CAN’T CHANGE THE DELIVERY TYPE.

Oh, and I can’t cancel the order either. So the $80 is charged to the credit card, I now have to tack another $80 on the card, wait for the Target Order to arrive, refuse it, wait for it to arrive back to them, wait for someone from Target to call me to ask, “WHY” I refused it, say ‘NO’ ten to fifteen times while they attempt to get me to either accept the order anyway, or take a store credit rather than a refund. Then, and only then will I get a credit back to the card.

I have been online shopping since before the DotBomb, and this is the first time I got stung by the half-assed way some retailers handle their online shopping. Now I know why others are so bitter from similar experiences of the past.

Target, how could you do this to me.

P.S. To the folks at Amazon.com. If you are going to market yourself as a ‘platform’ for other businesses to do their online sales through, please give them the ability to CANCEL ORDERS. Thank You. (Toys R Us and Target both use Amazon as a online shopping platform).

Spent a good part of the day watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today with LatteKid and making our own Christmas Chocolate Candies (picture coming soon).

She had a blast coming up with ideas of what molds should be what colors, and we even gave an attempt to a few multi-colored ones. Which is far tougher than they make it seem when you read the instructions. Just let it be said that a “chocolate brush” is an awful lot like a paint brush. And I have never been very good with a paint brush.

OK, I bought the chocolate and melted it, but have you ever looked into making your own chocolate from scratch? This is NOT an easy or inexpensive proposition for a hobbiest or for “fun.” I did some research, and may give it a whirl in the future if I can find the justification for the tools needed. If you are interested in this, I did find a great site on doing it yourself, which is Chocolate Alchemy. Just as importantly, I found a site here that shows you the results of trying to improvise, not purchasing the needed tools and trying to do it with products from around the house. If I hadn’t stumbled across that site, I may have given the same thing a try, with the same poor results.

So, at least for now, I will stick with tried and true chocolate from others. I have been using Wilton’s up until now, but after spotting Wilbur Chocolate available for melting, and reading Bakerina’s rave on Wilbur Chocolate, I think that may be the way to go.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – With no must-have plaything emerging so far this holiday season besides Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video game console, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Thursday its hottest toys are the ones it has promoted aggressively.

Well, geez thanks for letting us know that your marketing is so good that it has influenced my child’s decision of what she wants for Christmas. Jerks!

Well, I started this the other day, and by golly, for as long as it is going be called A “War on Christmas,” by (and let me emphasize this) EXTREME RADICAL Christians, I will lend my voice to the less vocal rational side of this argument (there is a vocal IRRATIONAL opposition to this, but that is not from where I speak).

I am not complaining about “Christmas,” nor those that want to “Keep the Christ in Christmas.” I fully support and even agree with those people. If you are going to celebrate a holiday, at least remember WHY you are celebrating it. (And just for the record, I personally celebrate Christmas. But I do not expect to push my views on others).

I guess, what I really want to know is whether or not these same people have heard the phrase, “Season Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” before? If not, what rock have they been under. These are not new. They weren’t just made up in order to “steal Christmas”

But there is the catch, and here is where the “War” comes in. Those people that will not shop at Wal-Mart, Sears or Target or other retailers because unless is says CHRISTMAS specifically in their flyer they are going to boycott the stores. This is about Bill O’Reilley from Fox News that looked to stoke this fire more by “rooting out” every retailer that has chosen to use a “Holiday” Theme rather than saying “Christmas” This is about the people in this Washington post article that threw Holiday Cards from the Whitehouse because they were not CHRISTMAS Cards.

To add gasoline to this fire, you only need to look to hate monger Jerry Falwall. How dare I say such a thing? Well, Evangelical Christian pastor Jerry Falwell had a message for Americans when it comes to celebrating Christmas this year: You’re either with us, or you’re against us.

What kind of “Christian” message is that? So here, Falwell is himself declaring “War” on every person of religious decent other than Christians. Is this a message that Jesus would wish him to convey? Of course what can you expect from a man that said g-d told him that September 11th was allowed to happen because of pagans, abortionists, homosexuals, ACLU, Feminist, etc. (I personally can still not even get close to understanding how an organization that is set up to defend the Constitution would even be on g-d’s radar screen. I can disagree with the others, but can more easily accept the “reasoning” based on moral principals, but the ACLU?)

American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, is another man of questionable Christian values. He, while speaking of the boycott of target stores, said nothing short of “Prominent Display of ‘Christmas’ will satisfy him. And if it is offensive to others? “They can walk right by the sign,” Wildmon said. “It’s a federal holiday. If someone is upset by that, well, they should know that they are living in a predominantly Christian nation.” Hence accordingly you can infer, that Christians should not turn the other cheek, but everybody else should. Again I ask, why are Christians complaining that there is a war on Christmas? Who declared war on whom? (the source for both the quotes from Jerry Falwell and Tim Wildmon are from a San Francisco Chronicle article.)

Now a more murky issue recently came up in Manhasset, New York, that may of you outside the NY/NJ Metro area may not have heard. At the tree lighting ceremony this year, Rev. Nick Zientarski gave the blessing of the tree. When he said, “Jesus Christ”, North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman apparently lost his mind (remember I mentioned the irrationals at the beginning of this post?), got up and told the crowd, “I just want to make it clear that this is in no way a religious ceremony.” People where in shock. Not just Christians, but everyone. It was inappropriate for him to do. Period. End of Story. Or so it should be. But no, now that this “Christian Fever” is spreading, every story includes a person like John Kiggins, owner of Manhasset Sporting Goods, who felt he needed to point out at the end of a statement in an article in Newsday, “…And the event was billed as a Christmas tree lighting. Had it not been billed that way, I probably wouldn’t have gone.” So if it was a “Holiday Tree” lighting, it would not have been as enjoyable to get out and see?

A little bit of History

Jesus was born in September and not December. It was during the days of Pope Damasus I , when the Roman Church was attempting to convert pagans and others to Christianity did the Christ Mass get put in December in direct opposition to the other holidays that were celebrated at the time, effective “stealing” the “Festival of Lights” and other holidays to insert their own.

The Reality of this Country

The United States is supposed to be free from religious persecution, not free from religious persecution as long as you are a Christian. I will not complain about you celebrating Christmas, but by all means, please refrain from shoving your beliefs down my throat. It is a holiday season for a great many religions. We are a nation of great many religions and beliefs. Every single one of them has a right to celebrate their holiday. With Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Yule (isn’t funny that at Christmas time, so many of them offer Yuletide greetings without realizing the meaning), the end of December is truly a Holiday Season.

It is a season to love your fellow man, but these Christian fanaticals apparently have forgotten that, and only love those that believe as they do, or will bend to their whims. To them I say, “Happy Holidays”