Who should read this chapter? All parents.
Summary: The latest greatest toy versus peace on earth and good will to all? I was surprised to find that my children choose peace on earth and good to all over any toy. This shouldn't be surprising, but it's unfortunate that our society seems to emphasize the toys while failing to stress the truly greater gifts of life. Parents should stress the gifts that most of us are fortunate enough to have. Materialistic gifts such as toys should be put in their proper place.
American society has focused on materialistic goals. Our holidays are materialistic. American businesses have commercialized these holidays. Children learn to associate many of these holidays with candy, treats and toys instead of their truly important meanings. While Thanksgiving should signify appreciation for our food in the land of plenty, our health, family, friends and freedom; children associate this with family parties in front of a football game on TV.
Easter is the ultimate distortion of the original meaning of this special day. While Easter is originally a special religious day, our children now associate Easter with a bunny, hunting for decorated eggs and baskets of treats.
Christmas is remembered as the birthday of the newborn King many years ago. Gifts were brought from near and afar. Peace on earth and good will to all was touted as the greatest gift of all. Young children today view Christmas as a second birthday. When Christmas is near, children expect Santa Claus to bring them the toy they wish for. This idea is so attractive that children (who are old enough to know that reindeer and a jolly old man in a sleigh cannot fly) actually believe that Santa magically delivers all these toys on Christmas eve. Sometimes I think that American business has turned Christmas into an opportunity to sell merchandise at the expense of the true meaning of Christmas. Listen to the television news during the Christmas season. What I commonly hear on the news is how well merchants are doing during the Christmas season and how many shopping days are left.
One Christmas several years ago, my middle child wrote a note to Santa. She placed it in her stocking that we hang by the front door. The note read, "Dear Santa, I would like My Special Pet Shop for Christmas." This was too easy. I would just go to a store, purchase "My Special Pet Shop" and put it in her stocking. I put this off for a while until it got very close to Christmas. I went to several department stores and I could not find "My Special Pet Shop." After this frustrating last minute search, I called one of those toy superstores. To my delight, they told me that they lots of "My Special Pet Shop" at their store. I then asked the store how much it cost. To my horror, the salesperson replied, "Which one?" Oh no!, there were several different "My Special Pet Shops". Which one does my daughter want. I went home to examine the note to Santa again. The note did not specify which one she wanted. Somehow, Santa was supposed to know. I decided that it was too late to rush down to the toy superstore to fight the crowd and search for the specific "My Special Pet Shop" that my daughter was expecting from Santa. It seemed like the spirit of Christmas was a commercial spirit and this didn't seem right. It was time to have a talk with my daughter.
I asked her what she wanted for Christmas from Santa. My Special Pet Shop of course. She even told me that she wrote a note to Santa that she left in her stocking. I asked her why she wanted it. She told me that she thought it would be a fun toy. I asked her about other types of "gifts" such as good health, having enough food, a safe home, reliable parents and peace on earth. Interestingly, she told me that she wanted these things more than a toy. I told her about what life would be like without these basic things. I told her about war and peace. I told her about the difference between ill will and good will towards each other. At 6 years of age, she understood all of this. I told her that the greatest gift of all was peace on earth and good will to all. I asked her if she still wanted a toy for Christmas. She told me that she would wish for peace on earth and good will to all instead of a toy. I told her to find out what her younger brother and older sister were wishing for from Santa. I told her to tell them about the greatest gift of all. Later that evening, all three of my children put notes in their stockings asking Santa for peace on earth and good will to all.
Since Santa could not leave "peace on earth and good will to all" in the stocking on Christmas morning, the kids found little things that they like such as cookies, beef jerky, olives, crayons, batteries, little books, and little toys.
Children should understand that the greatest gift of all is "peace on earth and good will to all." Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone wished for this. It may actually become true some day. Children should learn that they are fortunate to live in a peaceful community in a nice home and to have good health, a close family, delicious meals and the opportunity to learn in school. These are basic gifts that most of us have are taken for granted. In our materialistic society, gifts such as toys are more highly desired by our children than the greater gifts that we take for granted.
Good health is another great gift that we often take for granted. When I was a college student, a club I belonged to, organized a project to sing Christmas carols at a nursing home. It was supposed to be a service project where our club provided a service to the clients of this nursing home. Since I had lived a fortunate life of ideal health and family, I was shocked to see so many ill elderly adults in one place. I came out of the nursing home appreciating my health. Now that I am a physician, I am confronted with serious illness everyday. Children have heart malformations, brain malformations, brain injuries, cancer, serious lung conditions, etc. I am ever so grateful that my children are healthy.
I don't think that I ever had this type of appreciation when I was younger and I think it made me naive and unappreciative of good health. Young children CAN understand these issues. They CAN imagine what serious chronic illness is like. Once they can imagine this, they can begin to appreciate the gift of good health.
Children experience brief uncomfortable and painful experiences such as the flu, immunizations and abrasions. They CAN imagine what it would be like to experience the pain and discomfort of surgery, frequent blood draws, broken bones, an inability to move about well, etc. I was at home with my two younger children (age 5 and 6 years at the time). My wife had taken my older daughter to a school activity. I was paged and called into the emergency department to assist in the care of a severely injured baby. I had no choice but to bring my two younger children to the hospital with me. It was about 6:30 pm and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. When we got to the hospital, I told my two children to sit down on the floor in one of the corridors outside the room I was working in. They were incredibly well behaved for about two hours. I think they understood that the baby was seriously injured. During this time, we moved the baby out of the room for a procedure in the X-ray department. My two children stood up and saw the injured baby. They were quite silent, but I think they could appreciate what it might be like to become very ill. Most children will not get such an "opportunity"; however, parents can generally relate a story of some relative or child who is not in good health.
Peace on earth, good will to all and good health. These are truly the greatest gifts of all.