Well what is the root of all this? I’ll tell you, it is commercialisation because firstly the big companies view Christmas as huge business opportunity. They plague young minds by their adverts and slogans. The disease spreads like wildfire to every child in the country. Often as a result of buying too much, many families run into debt. Some parents feel guilty that they aren’t buying enough presents, this is not helped by the fact that children demand for more presents, they demand for better presents, they demand for more expensive presents! Are you one of these parents?
My second reason is that our children take for granted the hard earned money that we work our guts out for. They are spoilt! We are partly to blame as we give in to them too easily. This spoilt ness culminates at Christmas where we get bombarded with moans of “Daddy, can I have this?”, “I want it now!” and “please mummy.” A worrying thing is that if we don’t do something about our materialistic children now, they will still be spoilt when they are adults and all of this means more money into the hands of greedy companies.
Single parents, isn’t it hard enough to provide for your children normally let alone at Christmas? You should stand up to your children as well as the pompous CEOs! What about your wants? Do your children ever ask what you want? Even if they do, aren’t the presents you receive no better than Christmas cards? To those who say it is the thought that counts, not how good or bad the present is that you receive, I agree with this statement completely but the thing is, our children seldom think of us when they or if they buy presents for us because they buy the cheapest thing so that they can have more money left over for themselves. Our children take advantage of our good nature a little too much. We need to act now!
Another example is Easter time, is it celebrated as much as Christmas? No! Because people don’t give each other as many presents. The critical time of the year for shops and supermarkets is the month before Christmas. It is the four weeks when stores of all kinds sell their products fastest. Father Christmas means one thing to children: presents. He has no connection with the original St Nicholas, who performed a miracle in providing dowries for three poor sisters. How many of your children know about St Nicholas?
I agree that non Christians celebrate Christmas as well and do not heed the religious values involved but surely this only proves my point because this proves that they celebrate Christmas because they want presents too!
If you asked your children to tell you the full Christmas story, would they be able to?
Even the number of schools producing Christmas nativities is getting smaller.
So please parents, however rich or poor you are, we have a common cause in returning Christmas to its old self—a time for families to get together, relax and have fun. Think about yourselves for once but remember, protect your children from the greedy commercialised world.