It’s December, which means there are a ton of holidays creeping up, from Hanukkah and Yule, to Christmas and Kwanzaa.  It also means that everyone is going to start spreading a little bit of holiday cheer, or at least, it used to.  Somewhere along the way we were taught that it’s no longer ok to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” or any other holiday greeting.  It’s not politically correct, you may offend someone.  When did a kind gesture become offensive?

What’s In A Name?

While I understand that religious ties to holidays like Christmas or Hanukkah, wishing someone a merry Christmas or happy Hanukkah, regardless of your creed, is nothing more than a friendly gesture.  Hell, Christmas is barely a religious holiday anymore thanks to Santa Claus and commercialism.  I bet just as many people celebrate “Christmas” for these reasons than for the religious reasons.  That said, is it so rude that someone cared enough to offer you a warm holiday greeting, regardless of whether or not you celebrate their holiday or subscribe to their creed?

The Common Good

Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, if at all, the spirit of the season revolves around peace, love, celebration and the coming together of family and friends.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, Happy Kwanzaa, or any other holiday greeting are simply a means of spreading some good will towards man and holiday cheer.  It’s no different than a person saying hello in another language.

If someone were to approach you tomorrow. smile and say Hola, Konnichiwa, or Bonjour would you be offended because it wasn’t in English?  Probably not.  So why do we treat a similar friendly gesture with such disdain?  It’s not as though people are telling you that your God sucks, or your beliefs are a joke.

Seasons Greetings

Holiday greetings are just that, a greeting.  They’re no different than hello, good morning, or the like.  They are simply a kind gesture.  Sure, some may mention or be tied to religious holidays, but does that really matter?  If it does, you better throw a fit the next time someone says “Bless you” when you sneeze.  After all, they may not be asking the same God to bless you.

So the next time someone wishes you a holiday specific greeting, smile, thank them, and return the gesture.  Spreading a little holiday joy will go a lot further and make you feel a lot better than getting offended and freaking out.

If you are someone who is offended by holiday specific greetings I’d LOVE to know your reasoning in the comments below.

I used to loathe games like Farmville, Mafia Wars and the like when they were huge on Facebook. I would give my wife a ton of crap for playing games like this because a) they required too much effort from friends and b) you had to wait hours, or even days just for something to happen in the game to help you advance.

The premise makes sense. By making stuff take forever or requiring additional help game developers can minimize story development while creating long lasting game play.

Recently I became the owner of an iPad and with that came my sudden desire for tablet gaming.  I don’t have a lot of money to throw around so I stay away from the paid games, so many of the free games I started playing fell into similar realms with the Facebook games I loathed. A few in particular are Monster Life, Happy Street and The Simpsons Tapped Out.  Monster Life and Happy Street I can get away with ignoring if need be, but I still reach a point where I can’t really do anything until something populates and 20 minutes or more passes.  The Simpsons on the other hand are a whole other story. On multiple occasions now I have needed Cletus to grow a crop, which takes something like 7 or 8 hours and when I return the crop is dead.

Needless to say its frustrating.  What happened to the days where games had a plot?  Imagine if in Super Mario Bros. you reached the castle and Toad told you you had to come back in a half hour to save the princess?

As a father of four year old twins, its terrifying to think of all the things kids have to worry about these days.  Sexual predators, cyber bullying, regular bullying, school shootings and the like.  But what’s scarier is the fact that parents have become over sensitized to certain things kids do and ultimately ruin childhood innocence through paranoia.

Too Close for Comfort?

Late last month I came across a blog post titled Adorable Boy-Girl Moment, or Too Close for Comfort?  In it a mother of a six year old boy questions the innocence of her son and his best friend, who just so happened to be a girl.  In the final moments before a long distance move, the boy and girl, both six, lay on the floor discussing the move and how they would miss one another.

As the two watched TV the mom popped her head in to find the boy lying on the floor watching cartoons with the young girl lying on his chest as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.  The mom essentially freaked out, though she kept her composure, and managed to distract the two in order to stop it.  She ended her post with,

“But I’m still torn on whether their comfy cuddle-time was the most adorable thing ever, or a teensy tiny bit on the WHOAH HOLY SHIT side.”

In the comments numerous readers called her nuts, crazy, ridiculous, and I have to agree.  As we look to our children and their actions we can’t over-sexualize them the way I see so many parents do.  This isn’t the first time I have seen a parent freak out about the innocence of children like this.  I recently saw a comment thread on Facebook where moms were freaking out about how disgusting or inappropriate kissing your child on the lips was.  If you feel a peck on your child’s lips is too intimate or sexual, I think you have bigger problems to deal with.

Leave Them Kids Alone

While I think the mom in this story is a nut, I at least partly agree with how she handled it.  She didn’t make a big deal about it to the kids, and didn’t prematurely expose her son to early curiosity of sexual behavior.  What would have happened if she had freaked out and told them it was inappropriate for a young boy and girl to be so affectionate?  What sort of questions would it have raised for the six year old?

As adults, we have a cognitive understanding of intimate relationships, sexual relationships, and the like.  Unless you’re letting your son or daughter in on the birds and the bees they are most likely completely oblivious to these acts, and therefore are not seeing their actions the same way you or another adult would.  Unless your child is performing an actual sexual act, or exploring in ways that violate what is appropriate I see no need in blasting your kid for being inappropriate.  Humiliating them for it, making them feel guilty for it, or treating it as something more than it is is simply opening your child up to more harm than good in the long run.

Being a parent in this day in age is scary as hell.  It’s one reason my wife and I opted to home school our kids, but as much as parents fear what happens outside of their home they need to be aware of the actions they take while their children are inside their home.  Over reacting to a child’s innocence could be just as damaging as some of the stuff they might face outside the four walls of your home.