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The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, December 20,198 i Education With Terry Hawkins New Ramp in Use at Post Office Entrance A friend of mine was selling tickets on a draw for a local service club three Saturdays before Christmas and lexperienced one of the most -depressing times he had had 'i a long time. He was selling tickets in a busy plaza but after three hours, he just packed it in for the day because, as he says it, "he had seen enough unhappiness for one day". The people, thousands of them, were pouring into the stores to shop and they ail looked so serious, no smiles, no time to chat or even to say hello. t struck him that Christmas, or at least the getting ready for it, is not such ,a happy time for many people and an extremely serious business for so me. The Christmas season should be a happy time, but the facts show tliat it just isn't so for many persons. There is more anxiety, depression, anger and concern thani at almost any other time of year. Part of the problemn is expectation. People expect to be happy at Chrstmas and become very disappointed if it doesn't happen. They think everyane else in the world is having a wonderful time and so they feel doubly bad. 0f course,- everyone else isn't happy, but discouraged people don't realize that fact. Then there are the many people who feel lonely at Christmas. They recaîl past times of happiness with loved ones who are now gone fromn their if e and feel very sad. 0f course of immediate concern to many people, particularly parents, is the pressure that Christmas causes on the pay cheque. With ail kinds of tays costing 15- 50 dollars and most any article of clothing costing 10 dollars plus, plus, father and mother soon find a strain on the money. In addition, there are very few families who are not fully aware of the effects of inflation. If one just spends the same number of dollars on Christmas this year as last year, then it's going to be a skimpier Christmas this year. That's inflation and that's an aieyproducing pressure because the kids still expect Christmas to be like always. I know what 1 arn going to say now may sound a. bit corny, and a bit like an outdated record, 6ut it really does have ta be said. Maybe i's ime to return to the aId fashioned idea of Christmas because most of us can't afford the present type of Christmas anymore. And it's not just' parents who cant àfford our present type of Christmas, the kids can't afforçi it either. Should we allow our young people to spend all their money, on Christmas. I know yoirng people who spend their allow- Citizens who have problems climbing steps and are finding it most useful. In addition to the work those in wheel chairs wiIl find this new ramp that has been done on the front entrance, other entrance to Powmanville's Post Office a real boon. changes have been made to the interior, resulting The ramp is now being used by many people who in improved working conditions. ances of weeks gone by, plus ahl their earnings from paper routes, babysitting, and part time jobs, along with some "help out" dollars from mom and dad, on Christmas. In effeet these kids, put themselves into personal bankruptcy each Christmas. You cant fault their generosi- ty but their generosity results in anxiety, frustration and ill feelings for weeks after Christmas while they try to financially recover. 1 think we should be teaching our children how to avoid these problems rather than allowing them ta happen. There are way-s a family c an bring Christmas back toaa level at which it can hoîestly be enjoyed. Start by changîng everyone's expectatiors. If ahl the kids know that the'r gifts at Christmas won't exceed say 25, 50 or 75 dollars then the expectations are reduced and the disappointments îr.ie reduced. t takes some dýscus- sion but it can be done w thout mom and dad appearing as the world's worst cheapies. PUtting a limit on how much money each child can spend per, gift will sure help bring Christmas expenses into lîne for the kids. My own kids told me they couldn't get a decent gif t for anyone within the three dollar limit we 'nego- tiated' in our family. They said they couldn't, but they did. They really had to shop for something interesting for a change. They, at times, had ta combine their money and two or three of them went together and bought a gift. t was nice to see them co-operating in- stead of arguing. The sense of pride the kids get because they can buy gifts now out of their own earnings is really great. The gifts they used to buy with handouts" from dad just involved a procedure and certainly was not a joy for them, I thmnk maybe it was kind of humiliating for the older ones. The low limit on gifts has taken away the need for them ta spend, to show their love. They now know that a 15 dollar gift does flot show 5 times as much love as a 3 dollar gift. The gif t giving has become a joy. The kids are smiling again at Christmas. With all these financial limits, you might think that Christmas would become a pretty dull day. No so. Build in some traditions. Make up some new ones that involve fellowship, sharing and happi- ness. 1 know one family that every Christmas goes for a nature walk. We don't do that in our home but, if that family enjoys il. thats great. We do make quite a fuss about a Christmas breakfast however and as our gifts invariably includes some games there is often a family games hour during the'day sometime. Not exactly autstanding tradition but they work and we are developing more. 18111-y Belle Team Standings B. Osborne 26607, 30; Piper 25391, 28; P. Forsey 26375, 26; Roberts 25976, 23; MacDonald 26399, 22; Bons 25849, 22; Mutton 25627, 22; Alldread- 25530, 22; Sleep 25558, 20; Robinson 26328, 19; Fice 25661. 18; Phillips 25634, 18. High Single - 261, Marlon ColVille. High Double - 461 Oh! incidently my youngest boy has purchased a 2 dollar pen for his 01(er sister for Christmas. lies so excited with his purchase that he's already gîving her daily dlues. He's as happy giving her that 2 dollar gift as he would be giving her a 100 dollar gift. If he goes shopping again soon and sees my friend selling tickets at the plaza he'll have the attitude to be smiling. lie also will have enough money left over 10 buy a ticket. Yes Christmas is a very serions b)usiness. But il doesn't have to he. Bowling (261, 200) M. Colville. Top Averages C. Roberts 198, S. Robinson 192, P. Forsey 191, B. Osborne 190, F. Sleep 189, R. Fiee 187, M. Pearce 185, M. MacDonald 185, J. Chant 182, P. Lunn 181, J. Brown, 180, H. Dunn 179, M., Colville 179. il