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Show Santa Claus must have been a mother p.g. blub . v By MAKCEIXA WALKKK Thanksgiving came and went just like that and now they tell us Christmas is just around the corner. Actually, you see signs of it everywhere with Santa arriving at every mall and town in the USA. (He sure gets around.) You see it in the decorations hanging across the streets in several local towns, in the decorations at every store and shopping center. You see it in the size of the daily newspapers which become so cumbersome that the delivery boy needs a tractor-trailer to gel them out. You see it in the eyes of the little children. You see it in the haggard expression of the mothers who are trying valiantly to be ready for Christmas before the last minute. You see it in the gleeful grin of the businessmen who are really raking it in. You see it in the grandmothers who ha ve a ball at this time of year. However, you don't see it in the dads, or any man for that matter. It is not that they don't love Christmas. I'm sure they do. But they leave the thinking to the mothers and then they go shopping with them to keep from feeling guilty. - That is not always true. Some men I know will not go shopping with their wives to get the Christmas stuff. They put up the money but stay out of the rest altogether. In almost every family I know the the children were small we always had the shopping done early. We began in September and by December we were ready except for last minute impulse buying. - Something has happened of late. We get slower every year. And every year I make a committment, right after Christmas, that I am going to have it all done early the next time. Bah, humbug! It doesn't happen. Part of the reason is that during the entire fall, on Saturdays when we can shop, there are BYU ballgames to either go to or listen to. One cannot sacrifice a ballgame to go shopping. That would be unheard of with me, as you all know. By the time the football season is over it is almost December. The stores are too full of shoppers and it is hard to find what you want. You know, a lot of the problem is because the children are now all older. When they were young you could get them anything for Christmas and they loved it. They would be happy no matter what. A 'hen come the teenage years. You hae to be very, very particular. . YnCi have to take the child with you a V.wAtimes to learn what "they like, thV;v'you have to go back and get it wheji they are not there and by then it has been sold. You are right back to where you started. I hear mothers say all the time that it is really scary to buy for your teen. You are petrified that they will not like what you Bft . CothesareaL'wiU. along with exji hatS l , stereos, VCR? "4 ? animals. ' and j Last year one of our tto a cockatiel. That t J6-. I ahead of time an dkJH , waited until the Christmas and then i. !1' I okay. 11 worked , , 0" top of all this, in arin , I two teenagers, 'Sio I married kids. Wha are fc should we give them,n 'he 1 money more than anvih e) take up much space iiJ 6 eitheranditisno'Sjt?' unwrap.) WaPorV(. He is no problem this Year the girls receive a doll are too old for such Z Patch dolls aret What else is available VfB; already have? lnatlH: In the next few vvppW a frenzied lady ru2 ;u to get good ideas f r ? without letting the kid! j they are getting. Please ex ; cloud of dust she leaves fi is all for a good cause. Ch, for the family. Lhn Now, let me see. What would, parents hke? What about ,' husband? What about me' mother comes up with the ideas for Christmas for the most part. She may discuss the ideas with her husband but in most cases, anything is alright with him. The mother also bakes the goodies, sews the new clothes, makes the dollclothes, prepares tv, treat for the neighbors, and shops " and shops and shops. I was talking to Sherri Atwood, the Police Department's pretty secretary and dispatcher, and she said that she is at it early this year because she did it late last year out of necessity and it about did her in. I know whereof she speaks. When |