ho friggin' ho ho ho

I cannot comprehend the fact that Santa Claus sits on his throne at this very moment awaiting meandering lists from good & not so good little kiddles. But it's true. I think he's been there over a week. At the Cherry Creek Mall. Crazy, huh? It's not even Thanksgiving. Whatever happened to the excitement of Santa arriving by helicopter/firetruck/horse drawn wagon with throngs of anklebiters waiting ever so impatiently while parents try their best to entertain & distract until that breathtaking moment when the jolly fat man arrives in all his splendor. And don't forget the ensuing hours long wait to actually sit near the man to make the necessary requests & get that mandatory tasty cherry flavored lolly with the raised white imprinted xmas theme on it. That is what I remember about the day after Thanksgiving when I was growing up.

Now Santa comes unannounced. He's an afterthought, playing second fiddle to the advertisement for "Happy Feet" which disguises itself as a giant walk-through snowglobe exiting exactly to Santa's left. And the lolly? Well, no. That wouldn't be PC, now would it? They used to give out these cute little books with subliminal messages of moral etiquette; we even still have them. But surely that required the mall to shell out some money. The snowglobe is the mall's answer to rising costs & the lolly (and moral lesson book) is now a not so thinly veiled advertisement for said movie via coloring "book", primary color crayons included -both of which lasted less time and brought less joy than even a lolly would have. No, wait, I take that back. Santa did give them little snow flakes to "stick on the wall & dream about snowflakes" he said. Thanks. I really want to put something adhesive on their newly painted walls. But still. More useless plastic crap which some girl-child in China was forced to make for a few pennies a day instead of getting an education. The little gift bag they came in, however, I will re-use, to be sure.

Then there's the 8 yo who's old enough to question the whole oversized elf theory but was still pissed off that we went without her.

And the day after Thanksgiving has become this imperative "Black Friday" against which I am usually forsworn. (Although I may have to partake in order to purchase something I've had my eye on for quite some time at quite a remarkable price during the hours of 6am & noon only).

I have a week exactly to get my shopping done before the crazies hit the road. And also to make travel plans to school, work, and other time-wise appointments that will inevitably require extra minutes/quarter/half/full hours at which to arrive. That reason alone is enough to take the Merry out of Christmas.