The Yarnarian and the Winter Holidays; a Curmudgeon Gripes!

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Are you doing the malls? Not us! We don't need gifts, and I neither want nor need anything at all and I hate crowds, so we are not going near a mall.

I was thinking about the difference between the winter holidays in my childhood, way back at the beginning of time. I am a war baby, so my take on the holidays is very different from baby boomers and you young 'uns.

When I was a kid, we never got Hanukkah presents. If we were lucky, someone gave us a shiny quarter for Hanukkah gelt (money). That was it. We lit the candles, said the prayers, sang the songs, and did not play dreidel (which is the world's stupidest game). All my friends were Christian, so I was invited to tree trimmings and such and was quite content with it. I don't ever remember feeling deprived. Jews had their holiday with its customs; Christians had their holiday with its customs. It was cool.

So along come my kids in the 70s, and I feel this need to do Hanukkah presents. Why? I'm not sure, but somewhere between the 1940's and the 1970's people began to think very differently about Hanukkah. Maybe it was all the ads on TV, but all of a sudden Jewish kids felt very deprived without all the presents, or at least their parents felt that they were deprived. So we turned this little holiday which is about religious freedom and fighting for that freedom into a marathon present giving opportunity. In short, folks, we got sucked into the present buying.

Stores are of course thrilled about more of the population buying presents, and kids love it, but I think we're nuts. Having said that, I belong into the "nuts" category, because I love giving presents to the grands. The daughters get gift certificates or cash, whichever they prefer, the little guys get gifts. (The Hubbo and I only exchange birthday presents, and that is usually a PayPal transfer.)

When my daughters were kids, we did the 8 gifts for 8 nights mishegoss (craziness). But they were small presents and I started buying them in the summer. The presents would all be wrapped up and put into 2 piles, one for each DD. First thing in the morning, they'd barrel downstairs and pick out a present, run back up the stairs, land in our bed and open the present. Lots of fun, and in the evening, we would light the candles, say the prayers, sing the songs badly and go outside to admire all those lovely lights. We pretty much kept the presents separate from the actual holiday observance and it worked out very well. I didn't go overboard and didn't get sucked into the latest and greatest junk. And they didn't much care.

I guess I'm grumping because I don't like seeing these two very divergent holidays getting mixed up with each other. Hanukkah is about fighting for the right to worship as we choose; Christmas is about the birth of the Christ Child. They are not the same animal, not even close. That's one side of the coin. The other side is that Jewish kids really do feel deprived and left out at Christmas time. So what to do? Turn Hanukkah into a present-giving holiday? The 8 nights makes it easy to do that. And it is hard on a kid to go to school and listen to everybody talk about what she/he wants for Christmas. You see my dilemma?

As it is, this whole present buying is lunacy. People getting trampled to death by crazy buyers? The pressure on everybody to give when their finances are not in the giving zone? The sheer amount of stuff that gets bought that nobody needs? And yet, this is the one season that retailers can get ahead and make a profit. So we need shopping and commercialism and such, and it really is nice to give and get gifts. But does it have to be at this level? Are people supposed to go into debt and spend the entire next year paying off their credit cards for toys that are discarded, or sweaters not worn, or gizmos that nobody needs or wants?

This is an annual rant of mine and I thought I'd share it with you. You do know that I have no solutions to any of this craziness, just babbling on here.

So, dear reader, any thoughts on the above? Have I lost my marbles? Am I not getting into the spirit of the holidays? Am I in danger of the "Bah Humbug" disease?
Feel free to agree or disagree, but nicely and politely. Tell me what you think. I'll answer in the next posting, and then you can respond to that, and this can go on until next December.

Today I am a Birthday Girl, ok a Birthday Woman!

Yup, it's the annual natal day. I've moved one year further into Old Broad status. I think I see the beginning of a very tiny wrinkle. But compared to the Mommie, I'm a young chippie.

My sweet Hubbo got me the pair of earrings that I picked out (see some earlier post), a card, a cute mug that he found at a thrift shop, a box of teas that I know he found either on significant sale at some store or at a garage sale, and, best of all, one of those little pocket calendars that you get for free at the stationery store. I needed one of those so badly and all that I found that were left were big calendars. Yay, Hubbo! And, he wrapped the tea box up in Chanukah wrapping paper.

I love the weird and wonderful Hubbo gifts. I'm at the point where I can buy anything (within reason) that I want. I used to buy a lot of yarn, but now that I'm dyeing it, I hardly buy any. And my clothing needs are way down, so that expense is almost non-existent. So, I don't need much and consequently don't buy much. But the Hubbo always finds these interesting things at his thrifting moments. So it's always fun to get gifts from him. I never know what they will be.

We visited the Benster and his parents yesterday. He is the cutest 2 year old in the universe. I'm madly in love with him. What a sunny disposition! He gets it from his parents, who are just wonderful people. I have nice step kids.

And speaking of kids, Minneapolis DD, SIL, and Miss P are coming for part of Passover. And NYC DD and her guy and coming for seder too. So in April I'll have the whole gang here. Plus the Mommie and everyone else. I think I said this already. See, the mind is going south.

Today we're going for lunch at a place in Stockton that serves home-made marshmallows in their hot chocolate. I never, ever remember the name of the restaurant, but it is not the Stockton Inn.

Knitting news: I finally finished the Ripples and Waves Socks. I'm now planning the next one. Will post pics when I have something to post. All I've done is cast on.

Hi, Kay, Emily and Pamudom - Thanks for your birthday wishes. I really had a pleasant quiet birthday.

Holly - That is so true. When you're young, you want presents. When you're on the downward slide from middle age, giggles and a present are just wonderful!

Grace - The name of the restaurant in Stockton is Meil's. Let me tell you about their almond crescent french toast. Whoo Hoo!