Jefflog

In years past, Christmas hasn’t been a large holiday for us. It’s partially because of me, who has grown tired of the crass commercialism of the holiday and the perfunctory gift giving associated with it. Don’t get me wrong; I love giving gifts, but only when I see something that I think the givee would really enjoy, not because I’m obligated to buy something for that person. (If you really want to be a Scrooge, read Is Santa a deadweight loss?, which explains that gift-giving is bad for the economy at large.)

This year, that’s all changed now that Maggie is two years old. Hong and I are very excited for Christmas morning, not for what we’re going to get but to see Maggie’s reaction. Meanwhile, Maggie is aware of the upcoming holiday, but I don’t think she fully knows what’s going to happen yet. We’re trying to hype it up, but our efforts are only paying off moderately so far. I fully expect she’ll be a lot more excited next year.

We’ve managed to play the “be nice or Santa won’t come” card with her a few times. Well, only once, really. She’s such a sweet little girl that threats aren’t necessary most of the time. We’ll also try to play the “go to bed early on Christmas Eve or Santa won’t come” card. We’ll be tracking Santa’s progress through Google Earth that evening.

Shortly after Maggie was born, my friend Alexis wrote to me to “be prepared for Fun!”. I think my fun is about to become a lot more fun.