Great post for a great cause. Yes, Christmas should be about the children. I am angered at this day and age where X-mas has lost it's true lustre by being swallowed whole by the materialistic, commercialized, overindulgent machine.

As a kid, things were tough financially. Usually a homemade shirt, orange and a book would be about it. We had great times though making popcorn strings for the tree, being out of school- building snow forts and shit. Seems like yesterday sometimes. I do recall one X-mas Eve quite fondly when an anonymous person left a box on our porch. Inside were socks, gloves, walkie-talkies and a bunch of food items such as canned ham (which I still love for some reason). At the time I figured I was just in some sort of double bonus period and these goodies were gifts from Santa. I am sure members here have their stories of what Christmas should be. I am also certain there are a lot of charitable members too. This place is full of great people like that.

On a side note there is another thing that really pisses me off about this whole Christmas holiday. I constantly hear parents tell their children shit like "If you are not good, Santa will not come" or "Santa is watching". Even classic standard songs reference this behavior with lines such as "he sees you when your sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he know's if you've been bad or good.... ...blah blah blah". My problem with this is some seriously good kid could live on a street. His/Her parents may not have a lot of money. He/She recieves a modest bounty for X-mas. Two doors down lives a spoiled little rich kid who is a total brat to go who comes rolling up on his brand new bike with every accessory under the sun. Is there something wrong with this picture? Pretty fucked up message to send to kids, imho.

Stepping down from my soapbox now. Happy Holidays all!!!