‘Who makes Christmas special?’ asks the TV advertisement of a major retailer. Parents work to make it special, so do grandparents, friends too. As a child I remember the efforts of my parents to make it special, just as I did for my children.
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Sometimes I feel driven in the search for the right gift. How common is that experience? While someone says there are 18 days to Christmas I feel there are also 18 days until I can have peace on earth, when the advertising push of retailers ceases.
‘Who makes Christmas special?’ Is the person the day is named for, Jesus Christ. It is the day we remember his birth in history and the wonders surrounding that birth… so ‘Christmas’ on the calendar.
The advertisement continued with the answer, ‘Who makes Christmas special? Santa does!’ And the adults behind the script could be ‘right’ as informed adults in some measure at least. Or maybe there is money to be made in perpetuating a mythical bloke, so that we will all spend to show how much we love each other and our children. Gifts reflect love, especially when the gift is valued and appreciated.
Not all ‘love gifts’ for Christmas are appreciated and some recipients are disappointed. Expectations are not realised at times, which is always hard as a parent.
There never seems to be enough money around Christmas, to ‘spread the love’ through gifts. And with 1.2 million Australian children living in single parent families we need something more of the historical wonder.
Then there was the advertisement of another retailer, scripted by adults, in which a child comments, ‘Christmas is Santa’s day.’ The historical story has been rewritten, scripted for consumers who need many ‘gifts of love.’