January 6th of next year — Wow! Obviously, by that date Christmas will be over and done with. New Year’s Eve, and the holiday of New Year’s Day will be past.

Less obviously, Happy Mew Year for Cats Day (January 2), National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day (January 3), National Spaghetti Day (January 4), and National Whipped Cream Day (January 5) will all be celebrated (or uncelebrated) and finished. If there’s any milk left by January 6th, I think I’ll make some hot chocolate and celebrate National Cuddle Up Day.

After being lost in thoughts of the future of my jug of milk for a moment, I had to pull myself back into reality. I told myself, “Self! Wake up to the here and now. Christmas hasn’t happened yet. Live in the moment. There’s still things to enjoy and take part in with the “Spirit of Christmas. For heaven’s sake! — you haven’t even watched the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” yet this year! Stop thinking about National Spaghetti Day.”

I reminded myself that there is still time to do good things for others at this Christmas time. There’s still time to be a “do-gooder.”

We had a couple of anonymous “do-gooders” in front of our house the morning after the last snow storm. I was getting ready to leave home and noticed a couple of young men (old enough to drive) quickly shoveling the snow from our porch, walks and driveway.

We didn’t recognize them and when thanked, they responded with a “You’re Welcome” and didn’t seem to want to visit. I felt like they were perhaps disappointed that they were “caught.”

There’s still plenty of time to be nice this Christmas season. There’s time to do something a little extra beyond what we’d normally do. I’m thinking that we need more random acts of Christmas kindness and giving.

A Christmas wish and good deed might go something like this: “Hi neighbor. I haven’t seen you for a while. Seeing how it’s Christmas and all, I thought I’d give you this smoked turkey (or box of Girl Scout cookies, or box of Twinkies, or tub of chocolate chip cookie dough, …) I found in my freezer. Merry Christmas!” (I was just thinking that many of you, dear readers, haven’t seen me for a while. haha)

Doing anything that gives us a break from the commercial side of Christmas would be a good thing. There are many who are craving some sort of personal attention as we continue with the need for distancing between ourselves.

The Sub-for-Santa programs and Angel Tree donation organizations always need help — even at the last minute. Your church leaders may know of someone for whom you could quietly provide some Christmas joy. In a place like Sanpete there’s no reason for anyone to be “without” on Christmas.

In all the “doing unto others” and being nice this time of year, don’t forget to be nice to yourself. Sometimes we turn this season into such a pressurized hustle and bustle time that we nearly put ourselves into the hospital or the loony bin.

We have to realize that we can’t do everything for everyone. Some of us go a little crazy and think that because it’s Christmas time we suddenly have super human powers.

A moment ago, I mentioned the commercial side of Christmas. I’m reminded of a couple of “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strips from years ago. Some of you remember Bill Watterson’s funny, yet insightful, comic strip featuring Calvin, a six year old boy and Hobbes, his alter ego, stuffed animal, tiger. Hobbes comes to life in the strip, when he’s alone with Calvin.

Here’s the comic strips I thought of:

Calvin says, “Yep, Christmas is just around the corner. And what better way to celebrate a religious holiday than with a month of frenzied consumerism!”

Hobbes comments, “I’m surprised other religions haven’t picked up on that.”

Calvin concludes, “Getting loads of loot is a very spiritual experience for me.”

The other Christmas strip shows Calvin writing a letter to Santa.

Calvin writes, “Dear Santa, Every year at this time I send you a list of what I want for Christmas. And every year you callously ignore it and bring me practical things I don’t want at all. What’s the deal?!”

“Are you insane? Have you gone senile?? Can’t you read?? Or are you just a vindictive, twisted elf bent on destroying little kid’s dreams?!?!”

As Hobbes reads the letter, he says, “You might want to sleep on this one.”

Calvin replies, “I know, but it felt good to write it.”

Enjoy Christmas. Let’s help each other enjoy the holiday. Let’s try to reduce stress for each other. Oh, and don’t let your mind run too deeply when checking the dates on the milk you buy. — — Merrill