My father hates wearing ties. Even as a six-year-old, I knew that. Other elementary school years, we were given pencil cases to decorate with Father's Day-themed wallpaper or wrapping paper. The football, fishing, and power tool themed designs were all very inappropriate for my father. But he's a man! He's my dad! He's got to be just like Tim Allen!
On that same note, if you think a subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine is a great idea for me because I'm a young heterosexual woman, I've got news for you.
Avoid Christmas-themed Christmas gifts.
That's a real pet peeve of mine. I do love Christmas, but only if the Christmas stuff is restricted to December 1st until December 26th. Getting me Santa Claus mugs for Christmas means I'm receiving them close to a time when I want to banish Christmas from my psyche, for the sake of enjoying Christmas next year.
Christmas gifts should be enjoyable for the days and weeks after receiving them. So, resist the temptation to buy Christmas-themed gifts.
On a similar note, don't put up Christmas decorations too early or take them down too late!
It's bad enough that retailers think they have to put Christmas displays up as soon as the Halloween stuff is taken down. Don't follow the lead of your local shopping mall.
My secularized and commercialized experience of Christmas is a sacred thing. It's magical and fun only if it's special for a time-limited occasion.
If you put your Christmas lights up on November 1st and take them down by the end of March, you have that stuff decorating your house for an entire THIRD of the year. It's not so special anymore, is it?
My birthday is January 13th. I always tell people, the Christmas gift that the world can give me is to have all Christmas stuff put away no later than my birthday. Ideally, put your decorations and tree up during the first week or two of December, and take them down by December 27th.
With that in mind, be considerate of people who have birthdays close to Christmastime.
Combined Christmas/birthday gifts are a huge no-no. Even though my birthday is a couple of weeks after Christmas, people are still tempted to do that to me. For people born even closer to Christmas, it's even worse.
Article comments
1 - Jon Sobel
Sensible advice! I would only quibble with telling people when to take down their Christmas tree - in my experience, different families have longstanding traditions about this that are important to them.
2 - Kim Crawley
You mean, like January 6th being the 12th day of Christmas?