The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

When someone calls me “Scrooge” or “The Grinch,” I usually take it as a compliment. What’s up with the two-month long celebration, I ask them. I mean, we don’t celebrate the Fourth of July in May.

I often think that if I were president (God forbid!), I would outlaw Christmas decorations and Christmas music until at least the 20th of December, if not a day or two later. Retail stores found guilty of holding Christmas sales before about mid-December would be subject to a special holiday abuse tax, proceeds from which would be used to enforce my new rules. Anyone found dressed as Santa Claus in November would be heavily fined – revenues to be used for the same purpose.

But then along comes The Times’ special Christmas edition, and I get the chance to read what the kids from Waitsburg Elementary School have to say about Christmas. They love Christmas, and are excited about it. At that point I feel (rightly) embarrassed.

This week, the second half of this newspaper is taken over by the kids, along with the generous support of businesses who help make this issue possible. Each grade, from K through 5, offers a different take on their feelings about Christmas – from haikus to stories to Christmas recipes.

I’m especially proud that we can continue this longstanding tradition at The Times again this year, because we’re able to show off the writing by the young people in our community. As a writer myself, I think it’s important for kids to have the challenge of expressing themselves in writing and then presenting their efforts to the outside world – for better or worse.

Who knows, one of these kids may be filling this space with their own writing a few years from now.

Putting my own Grinchitude aside, I hope all of our readers are having a very happy holiday season, lasting as long as they want it to. And even though I sort of enjoy it, I hope most of you kids out there don’t end up grumpy old Scrooges like me.