December 18, 2015
Dear Everyone:
Tomorrow is “Jeannie’s” Birthday.
She’s going to be 55.
Again. Happy Birthday,
“Jeannie”!
In my humble opinion (IMHO), kids whose birthdays fall in December tend
to get shortchanged. Even
with parents who are scrupulously impartial with all of their children,
a December birthday is likely to be eclipsed by all the
Holiday Hoopla and excitement.
Not to mention the
Birthday
Present that just happens appear with
Santa gift wrap
all over it. On the other
hand, I heard about a certain sibling, famous for her frugality, who
received a Christmas gift from some of her offspring who had carefully
wrapped it in re-used birthday wrap, thus proving the apple/nut doesn’t
fall far from the tree, does it?
Another problem with close-to-Christmas-birthdays is the tendency to
lump the two of them together.
Instead of two, somewhat smaller presents, people will sometimes
get one “bigger” present as a combined “Happy-Birthday-Merry-Christmas”
gift. And that’s all very
nice. But the kid whose
birthday happens in the summer can count on getting two completely
separate presents. And
believe me, kids can count,
and at a very young age, when it comes to presents.
And that’s why “Jeannie” will be receiving a Happy Birthday gift, in
non-Christmas garb, completely separate from the Holiday which just
happens to take place less than a week later.
On the Plus Side, she and “Frankie” never had to go to school on their
respective birthdays. And
the boys, all three of them, arranged to arrive in the summer, so they
got off, also. My birthday,
in contrast, is in the middle of March, sometimes close to
Easter; but I only
got it off when in landed on a weekend.
In fact, until “Alice” came along, in February, I was the only
one who had to go to school on her birthday in the whole family.
On the Plus Side, having your birthday during school meant you got to
take a whole box of
cupcakes in for all your classmates.
This made you very popular, for one day at least.
Unfortunately, having my birthday right before Easter meant it always
fell during Lent, when
all good little children
abstain from
something, usually “treats”.
And there would be Sister
Mary Fill-In-Blank, with the box of cupcakes sitting on her desk,
glaring at each child as they came up to collect the sugary treasure.
I particularly remember one little boy who told her, as he picked
up the cupcake: “I’m saving
it for after Easter.”
Or maybe to use as a field
hockey puck
later in the year.
It wasn’t until decades later that I found out that the abstinence rule
was “relaxed” on Sundays all during Lent.
A co-worker once described going to her mother and demanding to
know if it was true that things “given up for Lent” could be enjoyed on
Sunday without committing a sin.
“Of course,” her mother replied.
“I didn’t tell you at the time because you were just a kid.”
Well!!! That’s right up
there with allowing Catholics to eat meat on Fridays again.
Or letting women enter a church without slapping a hat on their
heads. As one co-worker told
us: “If it was a sin when I
was a child, it should still be a sin now.”
Of course, it’s still a sin to eat meat on Fridays during Lent.
And, obviously, that Sunday loophole doesn’t count.
Last Letter of the year.
Everyone have a
Merry Christmas, Happy
Hanukkah, Happy
Kwanzaa, Happy
Fill-In-Winter-Solstice-Whatever, and a Safe and Happy
New Year.
Love, as always,
Pete
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