Hello my friends, it’s me again…I have to admit, when I wrote my humble opinion about Obama’s visit to Norway I didn’t realize I’d be linking my blog back to VG, the major newspaper here in Norway who ran the article in the first place! I must say I was a bit surprised by so many new people commenting but glad I could give them a platform to be heard…we should all be heard at one time or another…
But as I mentioned, politics is not where I want my blog to go, so in order to bring things back on track here I thought I’d post a photo of some red Christmas trees which I found in a store display window at a hospital in Dallas. I was there in December 2007 when we all thought the end was near for my mother…so we spent HOURS in the hospital and you became very familiar with the hospital gift shops. This was a hospital mom was moved too when there was a chance she could have gotten a liver transplant and when they found out she wasn’t a candidate she was moved back to the original hospital which also had a sweet little gift shop but nothing like this..

While this is beautiful and magical I think there is just as much magic and Christmas spirit in the following photos as well…
There has been some discussion about the spirit of Christmas on other blogs recently. Perhaps it’s a question adults have because we aren’t as wrapped up in the magic of Christmas as much as children and therefore further away from the spirit? I don’t know?
As an adult you have so many other thoughts and worries and you know Santa is only as good as the credit limit on your credit card and that as soon as the kids go back to school they will compare who got what and you don’t want your kids to feel like they didn’t have as “good” a Santa as the rest of the gang….that is enough to kill the spirit of Christmas don’t you think? It’s easy for an adult to say they don’t want anything, they just want to be together or world peace or something like that but everyone knows that a child would be crushed if they went back to school with some new socks and underwear while their friends had new skiis, video games, etc. The great race to keep up with the “Jones” family has only increased with time and that is an enormous pressure for any parent who wants their child to be happy and fit in with their friends.
Perhaps this pressure is greater the older the child is and when they get to the age where they start comparing notes….perhaps that is where we are right now with our three future hopefuls and that is why I’m writing this? All I know is that any other time of the year my kids rarely ask for things, they are really good about that and when you get them things they are so greatful…it doesn’t have to be much, just anything and they are greatful…but at Christmas you feel like if you don’t spend thousands of Kroner (or dollars- depending where you are in the world) so your kids can have the skiis they want or video game consoles it will be a failed miserable holiday. I am fretting that if they got one big present under the tree it wouldn’t be as good as if they had several gifts under the tree. It just seems wrong and yet I go with this thinking every single year…
I hate when I see a negative thing in my life and can’t figure out how to change it…or maybe I know how to change it but I don’t- that is even more irritating!
I’d love to teach my kids that you don’t need magical red Christmas trees and tons of bling bling in order to have a fantastic holiday(even if they are neat to look at)…that the holiday can be felt and enjoyed in simple things and thoughts. That giving of yourself and your precious time is just as valuable as any skiis or video game consoles or any other high dollar item on the kid’s wish list- if not more valuable. There is a commercial in Norway for a large grocery retail store whose big campaign is, “The simple things are often the best things.” This is so true…..so true…
Until next time my friends……