What do we want to teach our children about December? What does the society want us to teach our children?
It wants us to teach them that from the end of November, the rush begins! Actually it starts even sooner. This year I was in Germany, somewhere in mid-November and the Christmas decorations where already adorning the stores. The hysterical consumerism being at its peak could not wait until December!
The rush begins with Black Friday discounts. Websites are being blocked because of countless visits. Courier services are unable to handle so many deliveries after the large number of online orders.
Then Saint Nicholas follows. In the town center, the square is full with the traditional sticks. The shops are packed with Santa Clauses made of chocolate of all sizes, chocolate boots, chocolate everything.
We can barely catch our breath and the charity events are coming, in which we are invited to contribute. Once a year, all the organizations suddenly raise funds for poor children, of which they remember only before Christmas.
Then the kids program is next. A festivity for every activity they participate in: swimming festivity, karate festivity, piano festivity, ballet festivity, school festivity…
Of course, we are preparing them to integrate into the society. They must become trustworthy member of society, to get involved in “Secret Santa”, ”Christmas Party”, ”Common dinner”.
And the month is not over yet, we are only half way there. Christmas is coming.
The traffic is terrific, the shops are full. All of them. Grocery stores, sports shops, clothes shops, electronics stores. Where did all this people came from? Where were they until now? I want to buy a winter jacket for my kid (the one from last year got small) but I’m afraid to get out in the traffic, to search for a parking spot at some store. I tried it last Sunday. I went to a sports shop in the morning. I was expecting it to be empty. Who goes shopping on a Sunday morning?! When I got close to the shop and I saw the parking lot full, I knew I had no chance. I couldn’t find anything. I would try to order it online, but the last time I attempted to do so, it was a failure. I ordered a book in November. Apparently a few phone conversations with the driver of the courier company weren’t enough for a successful synchronization. He has way too many orders to deliver, he’s angry, he couldn’t keep up so he sent back the book. Actually he’s not the only one who’s angry. The drivers in traffic, the shop employees are also angry. They have to work more: more products on the shelves, more customers to serve, overtime, but the paycheck is still the same. Furthermore, they also have families, holidays. They also have festivities to prepare, foods, presents.
If you managed to get through the traffic and the shops, you still have to educate your children to be nice in December so that they can get a present from Santa. I heard mothers saying “if you don’t behave, you won’t get anything from Santa!”.
New Year tops it all. What do you do for New Year’s Eve? Where to you go? You MUST have fun. It doesn’t matter if have the flu, if you are upset or not in the mood, you have to have fun exactly in that New Year’s night.
NO, NO, NO…..this train goes to a wrong direction! I want to get off!!!!
I haven’t ordered anything for Black Friday, and I don’t plan to. I admit that I browsed through some websites with my colleagues on Friday morning, but that’s as far as it went.
I don’t believe in Santa’s magic or Saint Nicholas’s magic and I haven’t insisted with this fairytale for my children. When my kids asked the first logic questions, I answered them logically. They were at kindergarten when they first asked: “How did Santa get into our house?” I answered them with guiding questions: “Who do you think is in our house?”, “Who did you see in our house?”, “Who could enter our house with the door locked?”. So they answered their own questions.
This year, for Saint Nicholas, I shared with them the legend from which it all began. I took my little one shopping so he could choose his own gift for Saint Nicholas: a plasma lamp. Luckily, the hardware stores were empty – nobody renovates near Christmas. I was delighted when he suggested making a surprise gift to put in his brother’s boots for Saint Nicholas. The happiness radiated from his face, the joy of giving, of surprising someone dear! We did the same for Daddy! He wanted to be Saint Nicholas himself. Nothing compares to the joy of giving. Obviously, the magic lies within him, not in some old man who makes you behave just to receive a gift.
I want to teach them that there are less fortunate children out there, children with whom they should build relationships, talk, play, and help whenever they can, not just at Christmas. They’ve been playing with Romani children since they were little boys and they want to teach them to perform good deeds. Trandafir, Matei, Guta, Malin, Andreea, Delia, and others are their Romani friends from their grandparents’ village.
I want them to learn about Christmas traditions, not just the rush for gifts. I want them to decorate the Christmas tree, sing carols, and reunite with their grandparents and family. I want them to experience peace in a village without traffic and supermarkets. Of course, they will each receive a gift (one gift, not two, not three, not ten!).
I want New Year’s Eve to be calm and peaceful, spent in a house surrounded by people we love.
And if December offers us so many free days, let’s make the most of them all, from the first to the last, and spend more time with our children and less time in traffic and shops!
