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A Pokemon Christmas
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___ Looks like we’re having a Pokemon Christmas. Every time I ask the boys to work on their Christmas lists, the bulk of it turns out to be Pokemon characters, cards and gadgets.
___ I’ve tried to explain to them that although as parents we love them a
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ALISON WINGFIELD
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nd want to get them fun things, I draw the line at an all-Pokemon Christmas. "In addition," I expounded, "your grandparents, although they are trying their best, are not up on the characters and doodads, and might not get you anything if all you have on your list is Pokemon."
___ So they conceded to add a few Star Wars items.
___ Who knew we would long for the Buzz Lightyear days when Mark picked up the habit of dropping by Target every two days to see if they had received a shipment of Buzzes. The boys loved the new movie "Toy Story 2," but it didn’t affect their Christmas lists in the least.
___ My family always has made Christmas lists. We used to mail them to each other. The last few years we have e-mailed them. Now my sister-in-law, our resident web surfer expert, brought us into a new era, with web links included on her list so if we so desire, we can zip to the site and order the product without ever leaving our computers.
___ I am doing a bit of ordering online. It saves time and stress. But part of me feels that is cheating. I think I need to be out there with the masses looking for the perfect gifts. There is something to be said for going to the mall and looking at the decorations and hearing the music.
___ No matter where I go or what I end up getting the boys, the most important thing I can do for them this season is make sure they know that we have already been given the perfect gift: Jesus.
He Said/She Said is a new regular feature of the Baptist Standard's on-line edition. Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas in January from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly. |
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__I know the proper thing to say you want for Christmas is peace on earth and good will toward men and all that stuff. But for right now, I’d settle for a day of peaceful cooperation from our children.
___ I thought of putting this on my Christmas list
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MARK WINGFIELD
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after talking to the father of one of our boys' friends. This father explained that his son was now losing one Pokemon card every time he disobeyed his parents, but the son had the opportunity to win back the treasured card by listening and obeying his parents for an entire day. The boy could win back extra cards by listening and obeying for two days.
___ That prompted me to ask: "What day might there be when a second grader listened to and obeyed his parents for an entire day? Probably the 12th of Never."
___ If Santa could deliver this kind of gift, grown-ups everywhere would believe in record numbers.
___ Of course, a nice corollary on the Christmas list would be patience. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if in your stocking on Christmas morning you found a number of patience patches? Maybe they could be like those nicotine patches you wear on your arm, only these would systematically dispense patience to the wearer throughout the day.
___ Actually, it would probably need to be more like the morphine drip seriously ill patients get in the hospital--the kind with the pain button you can push to get an extra hit when you really need it.
___ This product would be a success with most any parent and no doubt a great gift for teachers as well.
___ But if asking for patience for Christmas is anything like praying for patience, I’m going to steer clear of it. I’ve made the mistake of praying for patience before, and what I got was an extra dose of things that required me to exercise patience. I’ve learned to pray around that problem now.
___ At their best, Christmas lists really ought to be more like prayer lists, I suppose. It seems I too often get the equation backward and come up with prayer lists that read like Christmas lists.
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