Christmas?

Yes, we are getting close to Christmas! I actually don't particularly like this holiday (or any) and tend to look at it more as Orren's birthday first, even though it's kind of sad that my sweet little baby is turning 2 already. Even so, this time of year is foremost known as Christmas time to most people.

Until last year, I had no idea that so many programs were available for military families, to help with Christmas expenses. In some ways, I think that's backward, because we're basically some of the only people in the nation with a rock steady income and great benefits. A large percentage of private sector people could probably use the relief a lot more than the average military person can. Yet, of course, the military people get it because everyone wants to support the troops. It's ok. I mean, I'm not saying giving is ever wrong. The donors are very right, in fact, probably some of the best intentioned people there are.

The problem is the attitude that's come to the military community in the past couple years due to the prevalence of this stuff. People think they shouldn't have to pay for their kids' Christmas gifts, and get VERY ugly if they aren't accepted for any of the programs. Granted, the people who get like that are the ones who really could use it, and maybe their Commander lost the flyer about it before he could hang it up, or their Platoon Sergeant turned the applications in to the wrong person, or something. The thing is, these things go differently each year, from what it seems, so mistakes happen. Nobody should ever rely on freebies to provide their holidays because, well, that's like relying on a spin of the roulette wheel in Vegas for your rent/mortgage payment. It's a recipe for disappointment.

What I really couldn't stand was seeing all the nasty messages on our Garrison Commander's Q&A page about how this post is the worst at supporting its soldiers, because ALL people who applied couldn't get free holiday meal baskets, free Christmas trees, and free toys for their kids. People are yelling and screaming about how their four, five, six children are getting "stockings full of nothing" because these programs didn't come through. Really?

For one thing, not all posts have these programs. Before we came here, we didn't even know any of this stuff existed, because it DOESN'T exist anywhere else. The fact that people think that they should give 100% free holidays to every last family is just insane. How could that even be a logistical possibility, far less a reasonable expectation?

Secondly, we all know holidays are expensive. We have a few options. Some people have holiday customs that include a limited number of gifts for each person, or simply do not have the tradition of giving a big ticket item to each person. This can really cut down on expenses. Other people shop early, and distribute the expenses over several months. Still others use credit cards. We are early shoppers... mostly. I mean, we do a fair share of shopping in December, but we started in September, and it really hasn't been that painful financially, even though this is by far the most expensive holiday ever for our kids. We had to distribute the expenditure because we are also paying a lot of money each month to our midwife in preparation for our homebirth, and that would really have done away with our holiday budget if we had waited until the last minute.

I get that sometimes people have tight years. We've been there, and we'll surely be there again before it's said and done. It's just that you compensate for that by spreading the expenditure out over time, or you do something else, like instead of big gifts, you do a few small gifts, then take a day trip up to Ruidoso to play in the snow. (It won't cost you but a tank of gas. You can play in the snow in public parks, and not even pay admission anywhere.) What you DON'T do, is assume you'll be getting a truckload of freebies, and then flip out when you don't.

I just don't get how it can be reasonably considered part of supporting one's soldiers, to provide the holidays for all their families. I would say the command group of this post is actually quite good at supporting their soldiers. Our General has given a new work schedule that allows more family time, and a more normal work schedule, at least during the cold months. We also have the best PX in the world, and more USO shows than most stateside posts. There are fewer deployments here, and they're shorter than they have been in other divisions I've had affiliation with. There are programs here which don't even exist in other places. The commissary is twice the size of the one at Ft. Stewart, and has better stuff. Soldiers here can actually go to school, while at other posts, they only pay lip service to that, while prohibiting soldiers from actually doing it. Sure, it's not the perfect post. It's ugly, and it's located in what can only be described as America's butt crack. The post housing is mostly really nasty, and there's not nearly enough of it. Even so, this post does more for its troops than any other post I've ever been to. I cannot believe people would say otherwise just because they didn't get free holidays from start to finish. What a complete load of crap.

The thing that slays me is that 90% of these people vote Republican. When you're basically asking for universal welfare, how can you call yourself a Republican? If you really think that everyone is owed all this stuff for free, you're far more like a Socialist. If that's your view, it's fine, but own it, and stop insulting our command group, who's working hard to actually make life here ok. And maybe next year, you'll have realized that Col Joe and General P did not make you have all those kids, so it's not their responsibility to provide for them, and you'll provide for your own kids. It sucks for them this year, of course, but wow. How on earth could any person really just sit there and think the freebies are going to roll in and they don't have to worry about a thing? What kind of person does that?!