364 Days shopping days left!

Now that I’ve got your attention…

I’m not a big fan of Christmas (above picture not withstanding). My experiences growing up weren’t all that good. I’m not sure it would have mattered if it weren’t for the society surrounding you that places such a high priority on your Christmas haul. I dreaded going back to school after Christmas break. The obligatory “What I got for Christmas” essay was painful and to this day I wonder if the teachers ever realized. Sometimes I made stuff up, other times I just didn’t do the assignment. God blesses everyone my ass…

My wife is the polar opposite of me when it comes to Christmas. Her family goes ape shit with presents and shopping and holiday cheer and all that bullshit. I’ve done my best to stay cold but over the years my lovely wife has warmed me up. Then my son arrived.

The first few years he just rolled around and ripped paper. This year he was four and a half and it was a blast. We took him to see Santa and he actually sat on his lap this time and gave him his list. He watched Christmas movies all month. On Christmas Eve he sprinkled oatmeal on the lawn for the Reindeer. We made a ginger bread house that barely stood up. He ran around with a constant grin for days.

Christmas morning was awesome. Santa brought him all the things he asked for but one which, disturbingly, he remembered and asked Mom if Santa forgot the skateboard he wanted. Mom told him Santa probably thought the scooter was good enough for now. She's on her game when it comes to all things Santa.

As a side note-- how fun is it to remove toys from their packaging these days? Either they are vacuumed sealed like they are being shipped in cyro-statis to fucking Mars or their tied down with steel twisty like suspected Al Qaeda. For the love of time and sore fingers can we please back off the security measures? My son was continually hoping up in down in front of me dying to play with his new toy and I couldn't find the hidden tie down holding the fricken toy hostage. The pressure was amazing.

Anyway, we stayed in our jammies all afternoon, played with his new toys, and watched “A Christmas Story” two and a half times over the course of the day (Best Christmas Movie EVER). He told us over and over how much he loved his new things, he was such a good boy. My wife made sure everything was perfect for us.

It was the best Christmas I’ve ever had.

Oh and the Seahawks won. GO ‘HAWKS!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year… and shit.

-Jim