Something better than Xmas

by zound 13 Replies latest jw friends

  • nugget
    nugget

    I can remember being given gifts very rarely as I was growing up. Certainly in comparison to my schoolmates we did not get regular presents. Everything was very low key and sporadic at best. We had no special present days.

    In comparison our children received wrapped gifts on our wedding anniversary and we did look for opportunities to reward them, certainly they did not lack for things they wanted. However now we have Christmas and Birthdays and I try to make them special and memorable with our own family traditions so that when they grow up their childhood memories are rich and colourful.

  • irondork
    irondork

    cantleave: I remember being told as a kid that we don't need holidays since we have assemblies, which are like living in paradise...

    Aahhhh, paradise!

    I have to give credit where due. My folks were pretty good at making the "gifts any time of year" thing a reality. With five kids in school watching everyone else bring their xmas gifts in for show-and-tell, my folks were not going to be seen as neglectful.

    And I believe it was genuinely their nature.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    I never saw too many witlesses getting much of anything at all. Too many toys, supposedly, could disincite children from doing boasting sessions or field circus, or wasting 6 hours on a Number Two Talk. After all, would most children rather be at the boasting session or in field circus, or playing with their dollhouses, race car sets, computer games, and/or toy building sets?

    Generally, the witlesses are supposed to donate any surplus money into the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund instead of buying toys. They are supposed to be content with the present things (witless speak for "do without"). This leaves nothing for buying toys. Additionally, many are too mean spirited to buy their children anything. Others are unable to afford anything, usually because of the limitations the washtowel places on them. When a child is so excited by a toy binoculars coming from a Happy Meal (and we all know how wonderful the optics on those things are), that is a sign that they don't have enough to play with. And I have seen this happen.

    Yes, I have seen a few that seem to have plenty of toys. However, within my former congregation I saw the lead hounder's house while I was studying. There was plenty of fancy furniture to hold his theocraptic library, but nothing in the way of fun stuff. No TV, no music system, no toys (and yes, they had 2 daughters, of which one was in the 8 or 9 range and the other around 12). Given that something is always left around, it is almost impossible that the daughters are simply perfect in picking up their toys.

    Another was a son whose mother was pious-sneering. This child was 8 years old at the time, and I was out every afternoon during midweek one week when he had his vacation from school. And they were out in field circus, having been out all morning. Usually, they went in around 4:30 in the afternoon. He got spanked for fidgeting, playing around while out in field circus, or whining because he didn't want to be out there all damn day during vacation. When do these people get the chance to play?

    With the number of people in the congregation that have little or nothing to play with, or little to no time to play, I am not surprised that they have to lie about getting gifts all year round. Not to mention they miss out on the fun leading to it. No Halloween. No decorating the place for Halloween or Christmas. No Wish Book to browse, even if they don't get everything they want. No setting up the Christmas tree--always a highlight while that thing was up. No singing Christmas carols. No baking, shopping, or wrapping presents. Often not even visiting anyone out of state--just field circus the whole damn week. For me, when I was that age, Christmas fun started way back in October (sometimes even September) and lasted into February. Not so for the witlesses.

    Let's try to make up for not having a Christmas tree, decorating the place for Christmas, browsing the Wish Book, high concentrations of stores with Christmas decorations going, Christmas carols, baking, and the general fun atmosphere.

  • QueenWitch
    QueenWitch

    Pfft, we were too poor. We only got new clothes beginning of the school year. Made it even worse after the Xmas break. Even other poor kids got something new and we didn't.

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