Where ‘ya been? The Christmas Selling season started Labor Day weekend

A heartfelt Happy Thanksgiving to you all. You all know I believe this is our best holiday. Marketing and corporate America hasn’t found a way to get this great holiday commercialized yet and he’s praying they never do figure it out. I am writing this column a week or so before it will run and I had a few thoughts running through my head I want to share with you as we enter the official holiday season and the race to December 25th.

My, have times changed. As you read this my Christmas shopping was prodded along weeks ago. Was yours? I sit here writing to you staying up into the wee hours planning on early morning time arrivals to area stores to ‘get while you can’ some limited supply hot Christmas items and its dawning on me once again why Christmas has for me in many ways lost its luster. I was carping about the scramble to my mom recently when I got to thinking about my Christmas’s as a youngster. As a boy I can recall a Christmas growing up on Knorr Street in Philly’s Mayfair section when all I could do was obsess over this ‘table top’ pinball machine I saw at ‘Kiddie City’. Long before the big electronic and digital game craze this pinball machine, an antique by today’s standards, was the hot item back in the late 70’s and I wanted one in the worst way. So my parents then did what we parents today do. They stuck their necks and their wallets out and made it happen.

I I’ll never forget how I found out I was getting this highly sought after toy. I guess my mom had made arrangements with the manager of the local store to have a pinball machine reserved for me. At dinner one December evening the phone rang and it was Kiddie City who happened to get my dad on the phone. Dad listened, responded that he’d pass along the news and hung up. Then proceeded to tell mom in front of me ‘That was Kiddie City David’s pinball machine is in and ready for us to pick up.’ Mom was furious. Dad, forgetting of course this was supposed to be a surprise let the cat of the bag in front of me. I was overjoyed. I practically begged my mom to take me to the store immediately. Needless to say not wanting to hear me beg for days leading up to Christmas mom and dad got my present early. I later discovered she waited in a line for a few hours to place her reservation. She and a neighbor took a thermos full of coffee and parked outside the store to get their request in for my machine. So I guess the trend, at least as far back as I can tell, that we parents do what we need to do to make our Christmas’s happy for our kids, began further back than I originally thought.

There are some differences from the 70’s and today. Before, the shopping season started hard the morning after Thanksgiving. The traditional ‘black Friday’ when merchants await the mad rush of Christmas and holiday shoppers. Now it seems the rush starts much earlier. I can’t forget the image on a warm Labor Day back in September when I stepped into a chain home improvement store nearby and saw Christmas trees on display. Christmas Trees on display and it’s the third of September. That’s just insane. The shopping flyers the Thursday after Halloween came fast and furious in my newspapers and in my mailbox. The radio, TV and internet ads are hitting us up like a boxer who’s got us cornered and going for the knockout. What’s this big rush? There’s no bigger time of year than Christmas when lines get drawn. You sense this vibe there are the folks having the ‘have’ Christmas and there are those experiencing the ‘have not’ Christmas. If you ‘have’ the hottest gifts under the tree for 2007, then your Christmas will be a homerun holiday. Of course conversely if you don’t have all the latest games, gizmos or gadgets then your holiday is a dud. Every year more and more of us drink the Kool Aid on this jaded concept.

I’ve ranted about this before and by now you’re probably thinking what’s the solution? Well, it’s a tough and unfair fight. The attractive ads, the pressure we put on ourselves and that others put on us all lead us down this path. You can fight back and still have a great holiday. I’m at peace with getting the kids that ‘hot’ game or toy. After all as I mentioned earlier my folks saw to this for me and you only go round as a kid so why not try and make it special for them. Where I part company though is after this point. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Your Christmas tree, your meal table, your Christmas cards and anything else for that matter is what it is. Do your best and stop stressing. I’ve been around perfectionists and used to be one myself from time to time and let me say in this man’s view it’s no way to live. Especially around the holidays. Talk about a stress meltdown, nothing ruins the holiday more than perfectionist behavior. If it all isn’t ‘just so’ than worlds collide. Lighten up, that’s nuts. Don’t believe the hype and find ways to make Christmas more personal. Write hand written notes in your holiday cards instead of the stock generic greetings. Make hand made ornaments with the kids and do something together that’s cost free or low cost such as baking or reading to make the holiday memorable. At the end of the day memories make the holidays merchandise fades.

As you travel into the shopping season here’s hoping you shop till you drop the thinking that it all has to be perfect. Good luck and remember to think of your local merchants first when finding gifts for those on your list. See ‘ya around town.