Proverbial Ton of Bricks

For the longest time, you just go on thinking "Yeah, Christmas is coming, but I haven't done anything about it." Before you know it, you're writing cards and making trips to the stationery store for Scotch tape and more ornaments.

I read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to my kids this morning. It took a long time to set up...the punch line of the story is hard to explain:

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas--perhaps--means a little bit more

These kids have no idea about the meaning of Christmas, and their grasp of English doesn't go deep enough to explain the commercialization of holidays by the popular culture.

Also, having grown up watching the cartoon every year, the book is a little bit less interesting for kids. It's basically black and white drawings with a little spot color (red.) We're going to watch the cartoon on Friday if Tim brings it home from his school, where he's been showing it to classes of Taiwanese elementary school kids.

So, I'm getting ready for the holiday, much to my own surprise. I actually got chills today describing to my kindergarteners the anticipation and excitement of my childhood Christmases. They talk about it, and learn about it from foreigners teaching them English, but this is not really a holiday for them. Chinese (Lunar) New Year is their big one, when they get envelopes filled with money from basically everyone older than them.

And yes, I'm serious about the Christmas cards. I wouldn't have made the offer if I thought I would get lots of responses. It's more like a club. Those who have e-mailed me, I'm hoping to go to the post office tomorrow with everything. But I think that the offer will have to end by, say, Christmas Eve.