Belated entries
First and foremost Happy New Year to all. I hope the new year does good to you.
My workplace had a holiday celebration that consisted of free food, children's saxaphone quintet, children's chorus, and Santa. The first child to sit on Santa's lap asked for "a laptop, an i-pod,..." After which there was much laughing from the adults and I tuned out. When I tuned back in, he was asking for world peace, perhaps feeling guily about asking for greedy gifts. Practically every child after him was asking for an i-pod, an i-pod nano, a NEW cellphone... While it was amusing at first, it was quickly depressing how parents spoil their children. Children should in some form or other earn what they want and not just expect to get it just because everyone else has one. When talking about it with colleagues (who themselves are parents) I realize that they have pressure to keep up with the expensive gifts other parents give. However I don't think it is right. I truly hope that any children I have will not be spoiled.
While taking part in the free food at the holiday celebration at work, I met someone who works there who I've only seen in a motorized chair at major meetings. I was sitting at a table in a hallway eating with some people from my office when this guy passes through the hallway. He's got (or at least I'm guessing) motor neuron disease - just picture Stephen Hawking. Instead of ignoring him as most people would do, I acknowledge him and instead of continuing down the hall, he stops and introduces himself through his computer. My colleagues and I introduce ourselves and we talk with him for a little while and he eventually goes to get his mother to introduce us to her. While we were all uncomfortable since it was all unfamiliar to us, it was humbling to meet someone with that disease. Hopefully we gave him a tiny bit of happiness to have people to talk to that day.
So this year was our first Christmas together as a married couple. Since we didn't have our families over for Thanksgiving, we had my family over for Christmas. It did not go as I expected, but it did not go badly. Hosting, I was expecting to do all the cooking and stuff here, but they brought almost all the food. I bought the lobsters and my grandma taught me how to make lobster fra diavolo. It was very yummy. We spent all day on Christmas Eve and all day Christmas day preparing food and cooking. I thought we'd have a little down time, but it was not the case until they left on Monday. All in all, I can't complain. The gifts were good too.
My workplace had a holiday celebration that consisted of free food, children's saxaphone quintet, children's chorus, and Santa. The first child to sit on Santa's lap asked for "a laptop, an i-pod,..." After which there was much laughing from the adults and I tuned out. When I tuned back in, he was asking for world peace, perhaps feeling guily about asking for greedy gifts. Practically every child after him was asking for an i-pod, an i-pod nano, a NEW cellphone... While it was amusing at first, it was quickly depressing how parents spoil their children. Children should in some form or other earn what they want and not just expect to get it just because everyone else has one. When talking about it with colleagues (who themselves are parents) I realize that they have pressure to keep up with the expensive gifts other parents give. However I don't think it is right. I truly hope that any children I have will not be spoiled.
While taking part in the free food at the holiday celebration at work, I met someone who works there who I've only seen in a motorized chair at major meetings. I was sitting at a table in a hallway eating with some people from my office when this guy passes through the hallway. He's got (or at least I'm guessing) motor neuron disease - just picture Stephen Hawking. Instead of ignoring him as most people would do, I acknowledge him and instead of continuing down the hall, he stops and introduces himself through his computer. My colleagues and I introduce ourselves and we talk with him for a little while and he eventually goes to get his mother to introduce us to her. While we were all uncomfortable since it was all unfamiliar to us, it was humbling to meet someone with that disease. Hopefully we gave him a tiny bit of happiness to have people to talk to that day.
So this year was our first Christmas together as a married couple. Since we didn't have our families over for Thanksgiving, we had my family over for Christmas. It did not go as I expected, but it did not go badly. Hosting, I was expecting to do all the cooking and stuff here, but they brought almost all the food. I bought the lobsters and my grandma taught me how to make lobster fra diavolo. It was very yummy. We spent all day on Christmas Eve and all day Christmas day preparing food and cooking. I thought we'd have a little down time, but it was not the case until they left on Monday. All in all, I can't complain. The gifts were good too.