This Or That?

I’ve seen a couple bloggers I follow post this in one way, shape or form. I thought it would be a quick and fun thing to do. Two options are presented – you have to pick one. You are supposed to tag someone else to answer the questions, but I won’t do that. Feel free to chime in with whatever you want in the comments, if you wish.

UPDATE: After being tagged by Dave and Lisa (and seeing their responses), I thought I should go through and maybe expand on my brief answers).

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Christmas Eve has always been the bigger day in my family for as long as I can remember. I’m not saying Christmas Day is not as important, but Eve was just always the bigger celebration. We spent every Christmas Eve with my paternal grandparents. It was the Italian side of the family and there was always plenty of food, desserts and family.

We’d have an early dinner (and graze throughout the remainder of the night), and the adults would play pinochle while us kids played with toys, watched videos, or played video games. I would say many of my favorite Christmas memories stem from those Christmas Eves!

Real or Fake Tree?

I have never had a real tree. I know they smell wonderful, but the upkeep of them and the fear or a fire starting has me liking the fake one. When visiting family or friends with a real tree, I always thought they looked great. I was often wowed by the size of some of the trees.

The tree we have at our house now was left by the previous owner. Sam has been using it every year. It has lights on it already, but there is a short in the wires. So we just string a bunch of lights on it separately. For as old as it is, it still looks very full. We talked about getting a new tree this year, but once this one was up, I remember thinking it still looks good.

Snow Globe or Snowflakes?

I think snow globes are nice. We have one that plays music. However, nothing beats real snowflakes falling. I have always enjoyed watching it snow. There is something peaceful about it. Even when it is really coming down, I still find it calming. Unless, of course, I am driving!

Sledding or Ice Skating?

I tried to ice skate once. Once! I can’t do it. I can’t roller skate either. I love sledding. I love taking the kids around on a sled. There is a small hill near us that I can’t wait to take them to.

Before my divorce, we lived at the end of a cul de sac. When they would plow our street, they always just pushed it all to the end. This made a wonderful hill for the boys to sled down. There was also a big hill at one of the parks that we would go to and sled.

I need to go buy a good two person sled this year so I can pull the kids around on it, or ride down a hill with one of them in it with me.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Egg Nog hands down. I know a lot of people hate it, but it has long been a favorite of mine. I have blogged about this before, but my grandma used to by this instant egg nog in a pouch and make it. My brother and I loved that!

One year I found a custard egg nog that was absolutely delicious. I wish I could find it. It came in a container that looked like a nutcracker. The only thing I cannot do is low fat egg nog. There is something about it that tastes different.

Photo Taken In Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Do It Yourself Gift or Store Bought Gift?

I guess it depends. Gifts that were made by my kids will always mean more to me than store bought gifts. Either one works, as long as there is some though involved. My wife is the best gift giver and always seems to be able to find just the right gift for me. I wish I had that talent! I don’t know that my gifts to her, no matter how much I thought about it, are as good as the ones she has gotten for me.

Something Red or Something Green?

This is a stupid question. Christmas colors are red and green. A co-worker said “Green can be St. Patrick’s Day, so you have to pick red!” I don’t really know why you have to pick one at all. They go so well together.

Giving Gifts or Getting Gifts?

Personally, I think there is more joy in giving them than getting them. I have told my wife many times that I don’t need anything. I never really understood why my dad would say he didn’t want anything when I was a kid. Today I understand. While it is nice to receive a gift, I just get more joy out of actually giving one to someone.

White Christmas or No Snow?

White Christmas without a doubt. I think that snow just adds to the magic of the day. There is a certain sadness that I get when there is no snow on Christmas. I’m happy with just a dusting, or even flurries. There just has to be a little snow. I really don’t know how people in the south deal with it. When I hear “Let it Snow,” “Winter Wonderland,” or “White Christmas,” I immediately picture snow on the ground. Do they even play those songs in Texas or Mexico? LOL

Colored Lights or White Lights?

I think in certain situations white lights (or any other single color) can look very pretty. However, there is something about having the variety of colors that seems more festive to me.

I recently took the kids to Menards and walked through the Christmas decorations aisles. There are trees that look very nice with all one color – blue, green, or white. I am not sure I could do my tree that way. Perhaps I would do outdoor decorations that way, but on the tree they just have to be multi-colored.

Celebrating at Home or Celebrating Away From Home?

There is a similar question that asks whether you would rather host Christmas or go visiting. There are perks to both. I love being at home in PJ’s while the kids open gifts. I love being able to have breakfast and just watch them enjoy the day. At the same time, celebrating with family at a get together outside of the house is just as fun. Hosting is a bit much for me – too much responsibility.

Opening Gifts One at a Time or Opening All At Once?

We have always done them one at a time. I think it is important to see the receiver’s reactions to the gift they get. If everyone is opening all at once, you miss so much. Besides, I’m a picture taker. I like to capture reactions to gifts. One at a time makes that a whole lot easier. I also think that opening gifts one at a time allows the rest of the family to be joyful for you and what you received.

Gift Wrap or Gift Bags?

I suck at wrapping. I always let Sam do it. If I was responsible for wrapping – everything would be in bags! I think there is something to be said about a beautifully wrapped present under the tree. Wrap it is.

My mother was an amazing gift wrapper. I remember how she’d measure the paper on the box, skillfully slid the scissors along the paper to cut it, and used minimal amounts of tape to wrap something. My kids used to hate gifts I wrapped because I was using a LOT of tape. The corners were never perfect, the paper was never tight around the box, and it really was a shoddy job when I was the wrapper.

Wrap master – I was not.

Angel or Star Topper?

I am not sure we ever had an angel on the top of our tree. It was usually a star or no topper at all. Now, we have this cute snowman that sits on the top, which I really like a lot. I saw somewhere online a snowman topper that makes it look like the snowman is stuck in the tree. That would be very cool. I also saw on Facebook an ad for the Abominable Snow Monster from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that you can put on the top of the tree. I’d get that too!

Wreath or Garland?

I don’t even know how these two relate to each other. My mom used garland all the time around the tree and would string it up on the walls and such. It’s pretty, but we don’t use it. I think a wreath can be very festive. I like them both.

We don’t have either at our house. The garland above isn’t the garland I remember. Mom and dad used to have gold or silver garland that was placed all over the house. Even little pieces of the stuff wound up somewhere. It seemed to be every where in the house.

Santa Wraps Gifts or Santa Leaves Gifts Unwrapped?

Growing up, gifts were always left unwrapped from Santa. The wrapped gifts were from mom and dad. I kinda like that. I know know why my folks were always so tired on Christmas morning. They were up the night before putting toys together! There were plenty of nights we didn’t get home from my grandmas until way after midnight. This freaked us out because all kids think that Santa comes at exactly midnight. If my dad had a dollar for every time he told us, “Don’t worry, Santa will come!” he would be a rich man!

Matching Pajamas or Ugly Sweaters?

As corny as it sounds, I think it can be very cute to have matching PJ’s. The kids had matching jammies for pictures. I think if we had extra money, we’d have bought matching ones for Sam and I. Ugly Sweaters are a party thing. I have one and I plan on wearing it to every ugly sweater party I every attend. LOL I need to get my money’s worth.

Cash or Gift Cards?

This depends. I know my son wants a video game this year. I can’t afford to buy it for him, but I will get him a gift card towards it. I think many folks would love cash, but I usually use any cash I get to pay bills. Not very Christmasy. “Hey, Pop. Thanks for helping me with the electric bill this year!” LOL

Mariah Carey or Michael Buble’?

Mr. Buble’! I love how he has brought back some of the great standards. I only really like the one Mariah Carey song, and they play it so much now it just drives me crazy. Buble’ has many great takes on holiday standards. He’s no Bing, Frank or Dean, but he still is one that I enjoy listening too!

Gloves or Mittens?

Gloves! I never cared for mittens. I never felt like my hands worked properly in them. LOL!

Grinch or Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown! The Grinch song is over played. There are so many reasons why Charlie Brown gets my vote. Linus’ speech tops the list!

It was pointed out to me that the Grinch does come around and loves Christmas much like Scrooge does. True – but Charlie Brown still wins this battle.

Turkey or Ham?

Neither! On Christmas, it is always ravioli for me!! It’s a Christmas Eve Tradition!!

There were many other choices, but I think that is enough for now.

How would you answer “This or That?” Do you have two choices you’d like me to answer?

Feel free to offer up yours …

Too Early??

Halloween is barely behind us, and we are just a day or two into November. Christmas is over 50 days away, however, it is everywhere! Even before Halloween, many stores had their Christmas displays and decorations up!

For years, people have pondered, discussed, and debated the “how early is too early for Christmas” topic. In September this cartoon was all over the internet:

Just before Halloween, Sirius XM radio began adding their holiday channels to their line up. Countless radio stations across the country flipped to “all Christmas” music yesterday and Facebook and almost every major news outlet had stories about it. I really don’t know why people were acting so surprised by this, because it happens every year! Is this the earliest stations have flipped? No. I recall a few years where some stations flipped to all Christmas BEFORE Halloween.

There was a time when Christmas music didn’t even start playing on the radio until Thanksgiving weekend. I recall scheduling 3 to 4 Christmas songs an hour throughout that weekend, and then cutting back to 1 an hour after Thanksgiving weekend. As Christmas got closer, the number of songs we played increased to 2, 3, and eventually 4 an hour. We almost always went all Christmas music at 12 noon Christmas Eve and then would continue through 6pm Christmas night. That’s not the case anymore.

People inevitably ask me the question – “Why do stations go all Christmas so early?!” The answer is a simple one – ratings! Its not always the case, but most of the time, these stations who play all Christmas music do very well in the ratings books – which means more $$ for the station. Some retail stores do not have the pre-recorded satellite music, so they will pipe the “all Christmas station” throughout the store. That means more listeners to that particular station.

Is it good or bad?

So this brings me to a Facebook discussion some friends were having (after one person voiced his disgust at the fact that his station flipped to all Christmas) yesterday. His argument was that “holiday music increases stress and is unhealthy for people.” I knew exactly what he was referring to.

A couple years ago, a psychologist named Linda Blair said that listening to Christmas music too early in the holiday season can have a negative effect on people. She stated that it can affect mental health triggering “feelings of stress.” She said that hearing holiday music is a reminder of all the things that you have to do to get ready for the holiday. She said the music will cause you to worry about (and become overwhelmed by) the things on your “to-do” list like travel planning, shopping, and planning for parties.

She also said that people who work in retail, especially those who work at places like shopping malls, face a higher risk of what she called “Christmas music-induced stress”! “Hearing the same songs over and over each day could make workers struggle to ‘tune it out’ and they become ‘unable to focus on anything else,’ she said. “You’re simply spending all of your energy trying not to hear what you’re hearing.”

That story first hit the news in 2017, and has already be reprinted this year on many social media and news pages. Blair never really cites any concrete evidence, or study results, so how do we know that this is actually the case? Maybe she is just a Grinch who hates Christmas Music?? Who knows?!

On the other hand …

In response to Linda Blair’s findings, there is another article (this one citing “scientific studies”) that says the exact opposite! In those studies, it was proven that listening to “uplifting music” – like Jingle Bell Rock, Frosty the Snowman and A Holly Jolly Christmas, to name a few – has been known to have a positive effect both physically and psychologically.

“According to these studies, the feeling associated when listening to music can be sorted into two categories, perceived emotions (when we appreciate the emotional tone of the piece, but not feel that emotion ourselves) and felt emotions. Felt emotions are when we connect to the feeling behind the piece we are listening to and it can impact our emotional state.”

As someone who has worked in radio for 30+ years, I know first hand the connection that music has to memories. Do a google search on “music memory quotes” and there are plenty of them. One quote in particular holds true for the next point – from Michigan’s own, Stevie Wonder:

“Music has a strong tie to nostalgia.”

This is why hearing a song from your childhood may bring back memories of elementary school, a high school dance, or a major life event like it was yesterday. It’s also why listening to certain Christmas songs can make people feel warm, fuzzy and child-like. Part of the reason why Christmas music is associated with joy is not necessarily the music itself, but the memories that come with it.

So, listening to Christmas songs may make you feel nostalgic for your childhood or just generally happy, because your brain has already created positive associations with the music. And it’s been proven – research conducted by researchers at McGill University proved that when people listen to happy, upbeat music, they can recall happy memories within a short amount of time. The entire article can be found here:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170228131027.htm

“In the experiment, the researchers had participants listen to four different genres of original music they had never heard before: happy (positive, high arousal), peaceful (positive, low arousal), scary (negative, high arousal) and sad (negative, low arousal). The researchers found that when the participants listened to happy, upbeat music, it brought about happy memories.”

That being said, there are Christmas songs that can bring about sad memories, too. So I guess there is that possibility, too. For the most part, though, Christmas music is happy and upbeat. That would suggest that listening to Christmas music brings about nostalgic thoughts which brings about happy memories and you being a happier person.

What’s my take on it?

While I don’t listen to Christmas music 24/7/365, I do have Christmas songs on my iPod. When I am listening to it and a Christmas song comes on out of season, it depends on my mood as to whether or not I am going to listen to it. There are some Christmas songs that I can listen to no matter what the season, because (as the latter study suggested) it makes me feel good or happy.

I remember when I worked at Honey Radio in Detroit, we would throw in “summer songs” when it was summer time. We’d play “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summmer”, “Wonderful Summer”, “Summertime”, and others and then cut back on them in the fall and winter. I have never understood why songs like “Let it Snow”, “Winter Wonderland”, or “Jingle Bells” (which are basically winter time songs that never really mention Christmas) didn’t play throughout the Winter.

Final Thought

There are people who complain just because they like complaining. Bottom line is this – radio is free. You have many choices up and down the dial. There are many other stations that are not playing Christmas music 24/7, so if you don’t want to hear it – DON’T! Pop in a CD, listen to your Spotify, plug in a USB with your tunes on it, or find the satellite channel that plays the format you enjoy. Problem solved!

I have always looked forward to the Christmas season. People tend to be friendlier. People seem to be kinder. There is a sense of happiness that comes with the season. Elvis Presely’s “Why Can’t Everyday Be Like Christmas?” captures that sentiment. Just because you don’t want to listen to Christmas music, doesn’t mean that others don’t want to. Christmas music and the holiday season bring about a joy that seems to be lacking today – don’t be a Scrooge!