Whatever Happened to the Love in Christmas?

Remember when Christmas used to mean something? When Jesus was the reason for the season? When the tree wasn’t just an Instagram backdrop, the dinner table wasn’t full of faces lit by phone screens, and the joy of the season wasn’t measured by how many Amazon boxes showed up on the porch? Somewhere between Rudolph and reality TV, Christmas lost its love—and we all just shrugged and scrolled on by. 

🎄 From Charlie Brown to Cheap Laughs

Once upon a time, families would gather around the TV for animated Christmas specials that actually taught something. You didn’t have to be religious to feel the warmth of A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. These shows displayed love, meaning, and a sense of togetherness.

Now? Those heartfelt classics are being replaced by celebrity game shows and Christmas “competitions.” Instead of teaching kindness or gratitude, we’re watching who can stack the tallest gingerbread tower or guess the most holiday songs for cash. Nothing says “holiday spirit” like contestants fighting over prizes while commercials remind you to spend more money you don’t have.

💰 Capitalism in a Santa Suit

The holidays used to be about love, reflection, and family. Now it’s about “doorbusters,” “limited drops,” and “buy now, pay later.” Christmas has been hijacked by capitalism in a red velvet suit. It’s no longer a celebration—it’s a sales event.

Black Friday used to be the day after Thanksgiving. Now it’s the week month before. Christmas decorations are in stores before Halloween candy even goes on clearance. And let’s be honest: most people are stressing over how much they have to buy instead of who they’re buying for.

Every year, millions of people go deeper into debt just to “make Christmas special.” But how special can it be when the bills hit in January and the joy turns into anxiety?

📱 The Death of Family Time

Family dinners used to be the centerpiece of the holidays. Now, it’s an exercise in silence—everyone sitting around the table scrolling through TikTok, pretending to be present while mentally somewhere else.

Even watching Christmas movies together has turned into individual screen time. One person’s watching Elf on Netflix, another’s on YouTube watching gift hauls, and someone else is deep in a group chat. The TV used to bring people together. Now, every screen pulls us apart.

🏠 The Divided Christmas

For many blended families, Christmas is a scheduling nightmare. Kids are shuttled from one parent’s house to another like packages in transit. Half of Christmas morning is spent packing, not playing. Everyone’s trying to make the most of their “time,” but it’s hard to find peace when the calendar feels like a custody battle.

It’s not anyone’s fault—life changes, families evolve—but it’s sad that the magic of togetherness often gets lost in the logistics.

🎁 The Entitlement Era

Kids today are growing up in a world where gifts show up all year long—birthdays, random “surprises,” TikTok trends, and “back to school hauls.” So when Christmas rolls around, it’s just another day of unboxing.

When every day feels like Christmas, Christmas stops feeling special. And when gifts become expectations instead of blessings, gratitude gets buried under wrapping paper.

💔 The Hard Truth

The holidays were supposed to bring joy, peace, and love. But now they bring pressure, debt, and disconnection. People are chasing the “perfect Christmas” for the wrong reasons—more likes, better photos, flashier gifts.

Meanwhile, the real spirit of the season—love, gratitude, forgiveness, and family—is quietly fading.

Maybe it’s time to unplug, slow down, and find that spirit again. Because Christmas doesn’t live in store shelves or social media posts—it lives in people. And until we start acting like it, we’ll keep losing the love that made the season worth celebrating in the first place.

Christmas used to fill hearts. Now it fills credit card statements. Let’s change that before it’s too late.

(Happy 19th birthday to my wonderful god daughter, Erin.)

(Happy 33rd anniversary to my brother and his wife.)

Thank God for Mothers

I lost my mom on June 5th, 2012. She was 69 years old. I remember leaving the hospital room with an empty feeling. I didn't know what to do. I felt as if I should accompany the body to the morgue because I didn't want to leave her alone.  I remember how distraught that I was at the funeral and how it hit me that I would never hear her call my name again.

But, like most things in life, you get stronger as time passes. Now almost three years later I don't have the same outlook on her passing. I smile with pride every time I hear any mention of her because I know that I was lucky to have her as a mother. A majority of us should feel the same way. 

Fortunately enough for me I had the opportunity to enjoy my mom for 40 years before she was called home. That's a lot more than some people can say. For that I am thankful. There are a lot of people who didn't get much time with their mom for whatever reason and I realize that.

I thank God every night for my mom because of her influence in making me who I am today. She did what any good parent should do: taught me right from wrong and she taught me how to be a leader and not a follower.

I miss going over to my parents house on Mother's Day to give her a card.  I miss taking her to breakfast the Saturday before Mother's Day.  I miss giving her a hug when I walked in her kitchen.  She's gone, but she's definitely not forgotten.

To all of you who still have your mothers, remember that you only get one.  Maximize the time that you have with her and hug her as often as you can.

"There is nothing more special in life than someone who can give it." -Q

#T2Q's Toss Up Thursday, 12/19/13 (PHOTO)

Family / Dollar

No, I'm not talking about the department store. I'm taking about the choice between what's more important: family or dollars? Is Black Thursday Friday now a reflection of the "American Way?" There's so much greed in this country that it's a wonder that anyone cares about his fellow man these days.

Everything is centered around making profits. Everything. Black Friday (which is not a holiday for black people) has always been the one day that retailers could rejoice in knowing that they would make a profit. People line up in front of stores just waiting for the doors to open at 4 or 5 AM. After the doors open, they'll stampede down the aisles looking for that bargain item of choice.

However, things change. With the internet now being woven into our daily lives, Cyber Monday became a second day for retailers to make a killing on sales.  Consumers could sit in front of their PC's and point/click their way to great deals.  But, even that isn't enough for the retailers.  Hmmmmm....  How can they make even more cash?

Oh, I know!  They'll open up the stores on Thursday evening and start the sales then!  It doesn't matter if employees are pulled away from their family's dinner table because a profit is more important!  Right?  If it doesn't make dollars then it doesn't make cents (sense).

Stores across the country opened their doors early which required employees to cut their Thanksgiving short and I think that it sucks.  Don't get me wrong.  It's essential that certain people work on holidays.  Customer service centers are always needed to provide help for cable, cell phone, insurance companies.  But do you really need someone to sell you an HDTV at 9 PM on Thanksgiving night?

I had a discussion with my homie, M&M, about how Target and Walmart employees were threatening to strike over the fact that they had to work on a holiday.  They were upset that these stores were taking them away from their family time and rest.  M&M agreed. 

He mentioned how when Sam Walton was alive, he stressed his employees being happy at Walmart.  However, when he died in 1992, his family did the exact opposite of what he would have wanted.  They started opening on Sundays and eventually went to a 24/7 superchain store.  The employees became an after-thought because the only focus of Walmart was to make money.  It was no longer an all-American store either as agreements were made with China to make just about everything in the store.

So, the employees have to come to work and we, the consumers, take full advantage of it without giving it a thought.  We roll into these stores with these disgruntled employees and then get upset over poor customer service.  I guess that's the trade-off you get.  You get employees selling you an HDTV on a Thursday night, but you get the attitude along with it because that person can't even enjoy their own TV at home with their family.  When employees become only a warm body to their company, then you can rest assure that the customer service will suffer.  See AT&T.  If you don't believe me, then go to a Chick-Fil-A restaurant if you're ever in the South and see how great their customer service is.  It's the best I've seen ever and I've been to a lot of places.  Not working on Sundays or holidays does something for morale.  I'm just saying.

With each passing year, money becomes even more of a focus.  How can we possibly expect children to learn how to care from one another when adults don't?  Is it so important to add another million to the billion that you already have that you'll cut someone's holiday short?  Why not use the internet for early sales on Thursdays instead of requiring the physical locations to open?

Don't get me wrong.  I love convenience.  It's nice to need something in the middle of the night and know that I can go get it.  However, I understand that employees have lives and I wouldn't want to come in between them any more than someone doing it to me.  I'm pretty sure that not one CEO worked last Thursday.  They sat at home and took naps after eating turkey while Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat had to pay for a babysitter on a family holiday so they could work overnight.

I once was naive enough to think that things could change, but I think that we're too far gone in this country.  We don't care about each other and eventually, we will be one step away from cutting each other's throat for a competitive edge.  These big corporations don't care if you spend time with your family or not.  They just want you to make their money.  Yeah, you may get holiday pay, but wouldn't you at least want the option of your family or a dollar?

Am I wrong here?  Do stores put more focus on money than their employees well-being and will it hurt us as a country in the long run?