Raising Children

Nissenbaum pointed out that the way you raise your children is very reflectant in your religion. For example, the Puritains were convinced that humans were born with desires, wants, ect. The Puritians attempted to stomp this out of their children...so to speak. They refused to celebrate Christmas because it is centered around our wants and desires. The Unitarians on the other hand, believe that the desires and wants aren't born with. In short, they believe that the wants and desires are developed. Once a year at Christmas is certainly alright by the Unitarians to Celebrate christmas. I think that I would be inclined to agree with the Unitarians. Once a year it seems all right to let go.

Religion

I think that it is very interesting how Christianity adopted the holiday of Christmas. Maybe some people felt guilty about celebrating Christmas in such a pagan way. By giving Christmas a religous conotation, celebrating was all right becaue the church said so. For me the religous aspect is an important part of Christmas. I attend mass with my family and usually sing in the chior. We practice every week for about three months and really sound good. I really think about those less fortanate than I, and realize how lucky I am. I have family, friends, a house, cloths, food, love, ect. So I would now assume that there are some good aspects about the Church "getting in" on the holiday.

A Birthday like Christmas

Yesterday was my 18 birhtday and i have to say that i felt like a kid at Christmas. It was my first birthday away from home, so i missed my family and high school friends. But my friends here made up for that. We all had dinner together and they opened my presents from my family with me. Then we all watched a movie together. Then Amber and Elaine left the room. When they came back in, they had a cake for me. I was so surprised and i had absolutly no idea that was coming. I was so happy and thankful that I have such great friends. I honestly felt like a little kid was so excited for Christmas. My friends at college have become my new family and i realize how much they care about me.

Paper 4

Wow, that topic really made me have to think about what to write. My article was a little weird so i tried to find another. That actually didn't work out well at all. I actually wound up using my original article which really wasn't that bad after I sat down and looked at few more times. So its turned in and I have to come up with some more info for it. But overall I think that I have a pretty good start.

Past Christmas traditions

I guess its kinda interesting the way Christmas was celebrated. People dancing in the streets and letting loose for one time durring the year seems different. Well i guess it is really different than the way we celebrate Christmas today. I think it would have been an interseting way to celebrate Christmas. A big party in the streets with lots of people all doing the same thing.

Shopping

That perfect gift is a large part of Christmas. I never really relized how much time we spend looking for it. Another thing I've noticed after years of shopping for Christmas presents is that some pepole are so hard to shop for. Some people just have everything and I never think that what Ive gotten is the right gift. I now see how much of the season we lose due to the shopping. Black Friday is insane. People are up at 5:30 in the morning to get the early bird specials for Christmas. A lot of this insane shopping takes away from appreciating Christmas and the season.

Santa Clause

So Santa is a big part of Christmas. Pretty much everyone knows the back ground of the argument of who wrote A Visit From Saint Nicholas. That and Thomas Nast's picture of Santa basically give us the idea who Santa is. I, like all children, totaly believed in Santa Clause. I think i might have been about 10 when i figured it out, maybe a little slower than most. What gave it away for me was that Santa seemed to have the same hand writing as my mom. Having a younger brother probably helped me believing in Santa Clause. But still, like the Tooth Fairy, Santa is a big part of childhood.

Kids at Christmas

I think that is really intresting that Christmas hasn't been always centered around kids and their wants at Christmas. I mean, today so many kids are focused on getting what they wany and not spending time with the people they love. Nissnbaum points that out numerous times in his book. Again, the elite class makes decisions for everyone. The Knickerbockers decieded that Christmas should be a more family centered holiday. So now Christmas is a kid centered holiday. I guess that is good, because parents had to pay a little more attention to their kids.

Wiki Update

The wiki project is going really well. Working together makes the project a lot easier. On friday, a group of us got together and worked on the layout and what needs to be changed. Took a break this weekend from working on it. It is great that the whole class is working on it. But overall I think it is coming along great.

Home

I never understood how much you miss home when you are away. I suppose this is why so many people like to go Home for the holidays. Even though it is not even close to Christmas, I like being home. It is nice to see all my friends and family. It almost feels like christmas because for just a few days we are all together again. I think that is one of the important traditions of Christmas; being with the ones you love. That is truly what christmas is about.

Wikis

I have got to say that i really enjoy this wiki thing. I like being able to go in and work on differnt topics. I like to do a paragrah here, paragraph there and i don'r really get bored with the same topic. Sometimes when you right a paper, it is difficult to come up with a topic, let alone write about it for three or four pages. With this you can write about what you want when you want. I think its great.

Livingston or Moore

So a few days ago the question of who wrote the poem A visit from st. Nicholas, Livingston or Moore. The book by Foster definetly made points for both sides of the argurment. Livingston had more of a "cheery" disposition and was constantly creating poems for his children. Moore, who now is the "author" of the poem did the same thing, but he was more grouchy. Although I have only delt with dispositon, other issues arise. To me, I would be more likely to think that livingston wrote it. I think that poets often reflect their mood and personality in their works. Being that livingston was more of a happy person, i think that there is a good chance that he did write the poem.

Comercal Christmas

So i went shopping the on friday since class was canceled. While doing so, I was surprised that stores are already advertising for Christmas. It is October first, and the ideas of what presents to purchase for what people are sitting in the back of my mind. I love christmas, but it is to early to think about christmas decorations and such. It isn't even Halloween yet. Christmas is a time to be with your family and friends and to enjoy the season. I think that christmas is now becoming to focused on presents and buying things. It is nice to get presents at christmas, i think that we can all agree on that, but it is just to soon to be thinking about buying gifts.