The Hidden Costs of Christmas

when I as growing up I can remember every Christmas as being a happy one full of joy and harmony. I can remember my Christmas wishes coming true under the tree on Christmas morning. I can remember eating a good meal and there was always lots of food and friends around the table.
With all of that happening, I never thought about the hidden costs of making that day happen. I think about my father, who at the time worked for the Post Office and worked 12 hour days to have the money to make the Christmas wishes of his four children come true.
I remember my mother, who at the time was a stay at home mom would work a job during the season just to make our Christmas dreams come true.
Credit cards were not widely used and most of what we received came through layaway . If you wanted something, you had better make sure that your parents knew about it before the end of September so that it could be put on layaway. When I think about this today it amazes me because we had 4 kids in our family and every kid got what they wanted for Christmas but at what cost.
My father worked 4 extra hours a day, hours that he could have used to rest and relax. The money from this extra work should have been used for investments to create a better retirement for himself and my mother or better schools for us kids. I would have to say that myself and my three sisters are all college graduates not from Harvard mind you but college graduates just the same . Maybe that money could have been used for first class instead of coach . If my father had worked less and relaxed more he might not have had a stroke and ended up spending his Autumn years in a nursing home.
Don't get me wrong, I have had a wonderful life and it is because of the sacrifices that my parents made for me. There Autumn years are good but they could be better. My life is good but it could be better.
This Christmas season, I am going to teach myself a lesson. Instead of buying the world for my daughter , I am going to invest some of the gift money and give some of it to those who have not been as fortunate as me. I remember my mother and father would put together Christmas baskets for their tenants and families to make Christmas brighter for them.
During this season, we should remember to get only what we need and we already have most that if we have love, family and friends. Take some of the money that you were going to spend on gifts and give it to the poor so that they can eat this season. Those of us who have should give to those who do not and learn a lesson from our parents who sacrificed everything to give us something.