Caught Up in the Holiday Web

The following dialogue between mothers coping with the holidays was taken from a recent parent chat room run by the Web-chat Broadcasting System.

ADAYLE: Anyone finding it difficult to deal with Christmas shopping?

JOKAL: Yes . . . big time.

mom26: Wish I could twitch my nose like “Bewitched” and all would be done.

JOKAL: I have trouble squeezing it in with work.

Image1: There’s just nothing out there this year.

ADAYLE: I have 3 kids to shop for and the stores are a madhouse.

mom26: . . . I did most of mine by QVC and catalog this year. Very simple.

JOKAL: I do lots of my shopping by phone.

Alsmom: Holiday shopping is the pits. I’ve definitely turned into the holiday Scrooge.

mom26: I’m loving it. I think it’s the best time of year.

Alsmom: People are festive, more giving, family visits, and I get to shop at Wal-Mart. LOL.

Image1: And you don’t practice any of that any other time of year?

Alsmom: No, it’s not that. It’s just tradition, I guess.

JOKAL: I went to the post office yesterday to check my P.O. [box] and there were people lined up as if the Depression had hit again.

Alsmom: Yeh, I think I remember hearing something about 300 million pieces of mail being processed in this country alone. What are people sending? I haven’t gotten one Xmas card. LOL.

JOKAL: I too am dreading this Xmas more then the others. I guess I just get so down this time of year. But really I guess I need to look at the bright side. That I have a place to live, food to eat and a car that runs.

mom26: Hope everyone has a wonderful Hanukkah.

Alsmom: I’ve been celebrating Kwanzaa, (which means “first fruits”) for 3 years now. We don’t spend a lot of money on shopping for toys. We take this time to observe self-determination, collective work, responsibility, creativity and faith.

JOKAL: God bless all of you and have a wonderful holiday season.

Compiled by AARON DAVIS