When a Christmas Tree Doesn't Necessarily Mean a Merry Christmas

Christmas time, what a wonderful time of the year, for most of us that is. You go around your neighborhoods shortly before or after Christmas and start seeing Christmas lights go up, in yards and inside houses for those who choose to put their trees near a window for all to see. Night time is a wondrous time of the year, children and adults both look in awe as the lights shine the cold winter backgrounds and when it snows it makes those Christmas lights look so much brighter.

But when is it that a Christmas tree does not suggest a "Merry Christmas"? When is it that the image of a Christmas tree in one's home could cause pain or agony or worse, a stress related breakdown? Could you only imagine that the mere sight of a Christmas tree could do such a thing? It can and it has.

For those families who live in or way below in the deep shallows of the poverty level, even those who life within some of the 'barely above' poverty levels, have a very tough time at Christmas time for it has become a 'commercialized holiday' and no longer time of year that is meant for happiness, sharing and caring, Christmas carols and 'maybe' the exchanging of 'a gift' or a 'few' gifts to show our love or appreciation during this time of year of others and what they have meant to us in our lives.

Now, the television barrages our children from a very young age, if they are allowed to view television, of sights and sounds of what could come on Christmas day. Songs reveal it is almost Christmas time followed by a new toy or a new game which is just a must have for this holiday time of the year. The older they get, the more expensive the gifts get, normally, unless they choose to decide that the holiday has other meanings to them, other than a 'commercialized present wrapped up in insanity'.

That is what often occurs this time of year, a stressed induced type of insanity for so many. The 'big' day after thanksgiving shopping day that pushes everyone to get up at a insane hour to sit in a store or worse, sit outside a store, in the cold, to get that prized gift that their child or loved one just 'has to have'.

But why? Why do we 'need' this one particular gift or present or why is it that we feel the need to 'have' to come up with something bigger and better every year for our children just because society says we should or must. Such as the newest mp3 players or the newest gaming systems or the newest fashions coming out just at Christmas time but a must have for anyone between the ages of nine and ninety. Come on!

For those within those poverty or 'semi' poverty lines, the symbol of the Christmas tree now symbolizes failure; failure to produce that one special present or that one 'got to have' gift or in some cases, anything. There is nothing more stressful than putting a Christmas tree up in your house only to know that you have NOTHING to put under it and during the whole season you are wondering, 'what am I going to do?', 'how am I going to tell them that Santa couldn't make it this year?'

Yes, there are many different programs for the younger children and some are very good, such as the 'Toys for Tots' that the Marines often sponsor and the 'Christmas mother' type of programs that offer a gift or two for most children, up to a certain age, with parents within a certain income range, if their name is picked off of a 'Christmas angel tree' or something to that sorts. We also have the Salvation Army which does wonders for many multitudes of families often sharing in both gifts fro the children and some 'groceries' for those families to have a better Christmas dinner.

But what about those families who fall 'just above' the income guidelines but have so much debt that is not counted in those programs as 'actual debt', that they fall just short of what is necessary to be approved for such assistance? Also, what about those families who have teenage children and / or those who have only one income? Do those teenage children not deserve a good holiday, no matter how old they are? Do they not deserve a little something if no matter what their parents do or parent do, they still cannot seem to get ahead and have a little something left over to get gifts without putting something else behind? Whether it be a bill or even their children who get left behind, having to leave them for hours or days with others or in some cases no one to watch over them, just so that one or both parents can take on a 'second job' just to make sure that their child can have a 'good Christmas' or even 'a Christmas'?

When will the commercialization stop and allow the holiday season to refer back to the good days of when a Christmas tree symbolized happy people, smiling faces, singing, snow fights and family togetherness? I can remember when I was a child and I loved Christmas time and the lights and putting up our Christmas tree. I loved the idea that I would get ONE gift from one or a few family members, extended and only a few, one or two for Christmas myself. Clothes were something that was purchased for me at school time (IF I had outgrown what I had worn the previous year or it was too worn to wear anymore), jackets and gloves when it started getting cold and snowy and spring or summer clothes, IF I had outgrown my previous outfits, when it would be starting to get warm enough to wear those types of clothing. They were not something that would be purchased for Christmas because they were not a 'Christmas' type of item. They were an everyday ordinary type of item to be bought when needed.

The same would go for many of the items bought during the year that would NOT be purchased as a Christmas gift. Christmas 'gifts' was just that, a gift which was a small, token or symbol of love and appreciation you had for someone else, not a new vacuum or blender or living room set. Those things could and were often bought all through the year but for Christmas, well those gifts were meant to be 'special'. What happened to that thinking?

I wanted to speak up about this subject because there are so many families, who feel the same way and are struggling to have any type of Christmas anymore; who is struggling to put even one or two presents under their Christmas tree. A Christmas tree no longer symbolizes what it used to, happiness, laughter, Christmas carolers showing up soon, hot chocolate, snow, family togetherness and love. It symbolizes, gifts, commercials and more gifts; newer, bigger, better, more and more and more. If it doesn't come from this store or if it isn't that brand or isn't this type of gift, then it just won't be acceptable. It isn't enough that from the amount of money that might be available to get a certain type of gift or any gift from the heart, now it must be something name brand, something that 'stands out' while puts you in a category of 'well everyone has one', instead of the individual who has that one of a kind gift.

I applaud those families who have been able to keep their family values during the holiday seasons and have been able to share the holiday season as a time to celebrate family togetherness rather than the commercialized side of it. Here! Here! To you!! No joking, no sarcasm, honest, true, awe for those who have been able to share with their families and their families share in return, love and family values during this time of year. But for those who struggle, stress, cry; feel as if a nervous break down is imminent in the near future, my heart goes out to you and I hope that these words spread like wild fire to those whom you love and care for. Let's bring the holiday season back, the real meanings of Christmas as it stands for each of us and rebel against commercialism. Let's bring family togetherness and Christmas carols or at least share in the joy of the Christmas tree and Christmas lights surrounding us where ever we might be. To those of you whom are struggling, my prayers will be with you and hopefully the prayers of thousands of others who read this article. No matter who you are, no matter how far away you may live, no matter how trivial you may feel your struggles are, our thoughts will be with you during this Christmas season and hoping that we can bring back the celebration, the 'Merry Christmas' of the holiday and the Christmas tree for you and yours!

Happy Holidays!!!