Get back to basics this holiday season
The holiday season has arriv
ed! Can you believe there are on
ly 57 more shopping days left un
til Christmas? Already shopping
centers and stores are getting
¡decked out in their holiday garb.
Some of these shops, like
Hallmark card stores, have had
their Christmas decorations up
[for weeks.
I look forward to the holiday
season each year, but I’ve begun
to notice that the holidays have
[become so commercialized that
everywhere you turn there’s
[something else to remind you to
[get “ready” for the season.
I Some holidays have begun to
[lose their prestige (so to speak)
[because they don’t have as much
[“sell appeal” as Christmas.
Thanksgiving is all but lost in the
[rush to get prepared for what is .
supposed to be a celebration of
[Christ’s birth. No one cares to
give thanks any more,
Thanksgiving, to many* just
means a day off from work or
school. There is much to be said
for Thanksgiving, though, as it
gives families a chance to gather
together and count their bless
ings.
Personally, I look forward to
[Thanksgiving. For my family, it
is sort of a “dry run” for
IChristmas, only without the
gift-giving that sometimes gets
in the way of the real reason for
the holidays. Thanksgiving
(because it does not involve gift
giving) is less commericialized
and therefore has remained
much more traditional.
Christmas, too, can regain
some of its “lost traditions” if
only it is looked at for what it is
meant to be. Christmas, while
not only a religious holiday, is
also a traditional holiday.
In my opinion, Christmas is
best when it’s celebrated in an
old-fashioned way. What I
mean by old-fashioned is
gathering the family together to
celebrate just being together. I
like to get together with my
mom and my sisters and bake
cookies while listening to
Christmas carols more than I
like opening gifts on Christmas
morning,
Christmas is only one day out
of the year, yet many people
spend months preparing for it.
Sometimes they spend so much
time and energy preparing, that
when the day finally comes they
are too exhausted to enjoy it
before they begin cleaning up
after the celebration.
This year why not lie back
and get back to basics - spen
ding quality creative time with
your family and friends as the
holidays near. Whether you
spend the time baking cookies,
singing carols, or just sitting by
the fire reliving past holidays,
all that really matters is spen
ding time with the people you
really care about all year long,
not just on Christmas day.
with them. Her big blue eyes fill
ed with tears. “What’s the mat
ter,” I asked. “Don’t you want
to go with your cousins?” She
laid her head on my lap and
wouldn’t answer. Sensing that
there was more to this than I
thought, I laid my books aside
and took her on my lap.
“Shelly,” I said, “Tell Mommy
what’s the matter.”
The tears were running down
her cheeks as she sobbed,
“Mommy, I just want to keep
company with you.” I felt
awful. Her real question was
not whether she’d be able to go
trick-or-treating, but rather, if
Mommy was going to take out
time for her that night. Needless
to say, I assured her that Mom
my would spend that evening
with her.
Since then I have actually got
ten excited about this Hallo
ween. Our windows are now
dotted with shapeless characters
my daughter calls “ghosties.”
The garbage holds the remains
of a pumpkin that met it’s fate
in the hands of my daughter. A
toothless jack-o-lantern now
peers out into the night from his
vantage point on our window
sill. Pumpkin shaped sugar
cookies await their day in the
dark recesses of the freezer.
Halloween isn’t so bad after all.
Parents, let’s make sure we
“keep company” with our kids,
especially as we approach these
busy holidays. We have all our
lives to go to school but only a
few years to be with our
children.
Well, Halloween is here again
with all its ghosts and goblens,
pumpkins and candy. In my opi
nion this has got to be the most
stupid holiday of the year. As a
full time student and mother it’s
hard to justify the time involved
in taking my daughter trick-or-
treating. But I think we as parents
need to enter into the spirit of the
season regardless of how time
consuming or senseless it all
seems.
Several days ago my daughter
asked me if she was going to be
able to go trick-or-treating this
year. I told her that if it was okay
with her cousins she could go
I Wooden shoe
like to know?
by Heleen Veenstra
Editor
Stereotyping becomes unacceptable
Intolerance,
narrow
mindedness, prejudice, in
justice, discrimination. These
¡are not very fun words, nor a
¡fun topic to write about. But
¡due to some things I have seen
[around me the last couple of
[weeks I want to write about it
to, hopefully, get some points
across.
I I don’t want to talk about
racial discrimination this time.
[Simply because that is a whole
[new subject and not very much
[related to what I want to say. I
would like to talk about those
people who are being
stereotyped and made fun off
basically because of the way
they look, dress, behave, or
talk.
First of all I would like to talk
[about being stereotyped. Is
every California blond dumb?
Is every athlete a jock? Is every
Sports Writer like Slap Max
well? Does every black engage
in criminal activities? Does
every Dutch person wear
wooden shoes? Can you judge
somebody on the way they
look?
The answer is NO! You can’t
and shouldn’t.Being stereotyped
is really unfair, because in most
cases it isn’t even true. These
persons actually are being judg
ed on...nothing.
Then something else: is there
any reason to make fun of
somebody just because they are
a little different than you are? I
don’t think so! Everybody has
their own way of dressing,
behaving or talking. It’s kind of
stupid that they are always the
ones being made fun off. I
mean, these persons have feel
ings too, so why should they be
hurt. Kind of ridiculous if you
ask me.
Also, making jokes about
these people shows bad taste.
That person who does that pro
bably doesn’t have a good sense
of humor and doesn’t know any
better jokes. That is about the
only excuse I can think of to
justify this person’s behavior.
I think all this shows a good
dose of narrow-mindedness. If
that person would have had the
chance to really communicate
with this group I’m talking
about, that person would realize
that they can be fun, without be
ing made fun off. Do you unders
tand what I mean?
So from now on don’t be pre
judice, narrow-minded, or even
worse, intolerant of these people
because it is really unfair and
should be unacceptable.
1
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