A Politically Incorrect Party

Before Jacob went off to bed, he handed me a note stating that he volunteered to bring a family-sized bag of chips to the…Christmas party they're having on Friday!

With all the political correctness and this whole thing about tolerance for other religions/faiths these days, it seems anything relating to Christmas is being pushed out. I was so surprised to see the school actually holding a Christmas party.

One of the best things about living where we do is knowing that probably 98% of the population (just under 40,000), while being tolerant of other religious beliefs, is not afraid to acknowledge Christmas…not the holidays, or the season, or winter, or whatever adjective you want to use to describe this time of year…Christmas. People here say "Merry Christmas!" and I like that.

Now, before you get all mad at me and start sending me hateful emails or nasty comments, let me also say that I have been on the other side of this. I didn't get to celebrate Christmas with the other kids when I was in school. I was also left out of Halloween, Easter, Valetine's Day, and even my own birthday wasn't celebrated in my home growing up. I remember what it was like to be left out, but I was okay with it because my dad made sure we understood why didn't celebrate those holidays, according to the religion we grew up with. My sisters and I learned to enjoy other activities during the "traditional" holidays. And since we didn't really know what it was like to celebrate Christmas, how were we to know what we were missing out on? In fact, we got to stay home from school when there was a holiday party and that was fine with us. As a kid, I always hated it when anyone seemed to take pity on us kids because we didn't celebrate Christmas.

Aside from my own personal belief that there is a God or Gods or some higher power, I don't claim to be a part of any particular religious belief. I haven't even stepped foot inside a church in over ten years. Not because I don't feel some spiritual connection to God, but because of the experiences I've had with churches, in general.

Christmas has been my favorite holiday since I first celebrated it at the age of 16. It's a special time for me. This time of year holds a lot of great memories for me. That's why I celebrate it now.

So when I read the note from the school and saw them there – in plain sight – the words "Christmas Party", well I absolutely loved it! And to top it off, the note ended with "Thank you and Merry Christmas!!!". Why thank you and Merry Christmas to you too!

[Image via HikingArtist.com on Flickr]