“Maybe Christmas perhaps, Means A Little Bit More.”

Does it get any better than this one?

#21 of 31 Things I Love About Christmas: How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

“Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful awful idea”- Boris Karloff, narrator of HTGSC.

That face. That smile. You know the one I’m talking about. Terrifyingly evil. I was horrified of that clip for years and I even get chills now.

The Grinch is a masterpiece. A once in a lifetime oil strike. If you came to read about Jim Carey’s lame silver screen adaption, leave now.

**All background info is generally courtesy of Wikipedia. ** On December 18, 1966 CBS aired the special for the first time. Narrated by the horror icon, Boris Karloff, it became one of the most loved Christmas Specials of all time. Though I didn’t realize until much later, thanks to the previously mentioned source, the Grinch’s voice was supplied by Karloff.

I have been watching it for as long as I can remember. I know we taped the Special Edition of HTGSC on Sunday Dec 3, 1995 off of a TNT holiday marathon (we went to St. Cecilia’s Church that day for a Christmas/advent social, made advent wreaths and the 49ers beat the Bills that afternoon 27-17. Other specials on the marathon included Yogi Bear’s 1^st Christmas, A Flintstone Christmas, A Scooby Doo Christmas, HTGSC and the accompanying Making Of feature with the late Phil Hartman…they also aired two additional Dr. Seuss cartoons The Cat In The Hat and Daisy-Head Mayzie, which was a film adaption of the last book Dr. Seuss wrote before his death.)

The making of special was captivating to me and I loved that as much as the cartoon. Leave it to me to be a documentary geek at the age of 8. Chuck Jones (an icon in his own right) said Seuss had to be convinced to make the leap from the book to a television special.

I also had no idea that the voice featured in the classic “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” was not sung by Karloff, as incorrectly credited on the screen, but by the voice of Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger, Thurl Ravenscroft. He explains the error went without notice of the producers and it was too late to fix it and Seuss felt terrible about this, writing a letter to many columnists nationwide, explaining that Ravenscroft was indeed the voice behind this soon-to-be holiday classic. June Foray (voice master, known especially for her work on grossly underrated The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle) was the voice of Cindy-Lou Who.

This special, is at the heart of it all very funny. A lot of things go over your head as kid, but you find the humor in later (For example, the battle the Grinch endured to get his sled down Mt. Crumpit and Max ends up behind the sled only to shrug and wave). At the same time, it’s got sugary Christmas cheer at the heart of it all.

Once the Grinch sees…and perhaps my favorite line in the special…"He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming. It Came. Somehow or other, it came just the same.” He suddenly becomes overrun with the spirit and joy of Christmas. “And then, well in Whoville they say that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.”

We all have a little Grinch, yes even me, but it doesn’t take long before we are reminded all the positive aspects of the holiday.

“Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer, cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas day is in our grasp, so long as we have hands to clasp. Welcome Christmas while we stand. Heart to heart and hand in hand.”

“I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus.”

This one chronicles either a time of joy or time or horror. One or the other.

#22 of the 31 Things I Love About Christmas: Seeing Santa Claus.

“Of course, SANTA. The big man. The head honcho. The connection”- Ralphie Parker.

Just yesterday while driving about with my pretty wife I heard an advertisement that brought out my inner Grinch. Now it is probably very clear I love Christmas, but this…this news, it nearly ruined the peppermint Peeps we were nibbling on (a-maz-ing, by the way).

NEVER WAIT IN LINE TO SEE SANTA AGAIN. CALL AHEAD TO RESERVE YOUR TIME WITH SANTA!!!!!!

You heard that right!! No more waiting in line. No more juggling strollers, coats, stray children and heavenly Auntie Anne’s pretzels while waiting to see The Big Guy. YOU CALL AHEAD TO RESERVE A PLACE IN LINE.

This is sad. It is also the picture of where we exist as a nation. Everyone wants everything. No one wants to wait for it. Waiting patiently? Taking turns? Those are all non essential life skills that our children need not to be bothered with. This is almost as bad as the company who now allows you to buy a real Christmas tree ONLINE and have it sent to you.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.”- Charlie Brown

Are we so busy that time for our children and family have to be scheduled in and prioritized? You wanna go see Santa Vito, Dino, Angelo and Tony? Well I gotta see when my schedule is free. Have your people call my people and we’ll set something up. It’s no wonder most kids are the brainless, soulless zombies with no emotional attachment to much of anything or have any sentimental value of family and tradition. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.

Jesus. Hey buddy. Feel free to come by anytime and say hello. The world is just about over, anyways.

Some of my most prized memories of Christmas involve those where we went to see Santa Claus. Usually on a Friday or Saturday night (though I am fairly sure Christmas ’91 we went on Sunday. I remember leaving from Grandmas’ house, changing out of my boots into shoes on the staircase on the lower level of the mall and getting the board game Perfection from Kay Bee Toys.) We would usually get picked up from school and head straight to the mall, so to avoid “the crazies.” In later years we started venturing to Greece Ridge Mall and Marketplace Mall, but while it was still worth the trip we went to Irondequoit Mall. (From 1990-98 Irondequoit Mall could have given the other 3 malls a significant run for their money.)

Click here to see a walk through video of the mall in 2008. Kinda heartbreaking if you remember how it was.

Santa’s Mansion would be set up in the middle of the mall. They would turn off the fountains, drain the water, and set up the gaudiest, most bombastic holiday display one had ever seen. And we would wait (I can hear it now, “Wait Grandpa, you WAITED? FOR HOW LONG? Well at least you could have Starbucks while you waited….WAIT? NO STARBUCKS IN 1993? Call in Grandma, I don’t believe you.”) And wait. And people watch. It was always a treat. Seeing the bratty kids being dragged through the line by the wrist or the adorable newborn in a reindeer onesie who had absolutely no idea what was going on. It was all a dose of Christmas cheer to me.

We would finally get up to Santa and have our picture taken. While seeing the differences and odd expressions on the Santa is priceless now, I didn’t pick up on the comical value of these pictures until much later. These pictures are mini time capsules. I would love to see them all now. Put ‘em in a massive frame of some sort. I was never afraid of Santa. Not once. How can you argue with a man who is gonna bring you presents. My brother and sister, on the other hand, were both terrified once each. I usually had a small list or a few pictures for him. In later years, I told him “Bring whatever ya want. I trust ya). Then we would get a small treat and these would vary from a mini cereal box sample, candy cane and coloring book.

Then it was onto the food court for a sensible dinner. Burger King, McDonalds, Arby’s, Tom Wahl’s or Sbarro (where I once found $40 underneath the counter, likely to be Christmas ’97 or ’98, Mom said to keep it and it was meant for me to find). Then it was time for the journey back home.

Then there was Christmas '00. It was a Friday night, that I know for sure. We were headed out to Greece Ridge Mall to see Santa and our Dodge Caravan stopped dead in the road in front of the Marriott. After waiting for what seemed like ages, we went into the Marriott lobby, where we were now asked the infamous question "Are you here for the Christmas party?" We had AAA come take care of the car...might have been a dead battery, but I seem to recall a fluid leaking...anyway, Grandma and grandpa came by to get us and we all had a lovely late night dinner of pizza (probably Amico's or Pontillo's) once we all got home.

I would kill to be 6 years old again. Going to see Santa, truly believing he came in our front door, polished off the cookies and egg nog, dispersed the celery and carrots to his reindeer and built the mountains of boxes I would find in the living room on Christmas.

Furthermore, I would even….WAIT! IN! LINE!

“Not only is Christmas getting too commercial, it’s getting too dangerous.”- Linus Van Pelt.

"To The Top Of The Porch! To The Top Of The Wall!"

I aren’t no poet.

But this is a poem for the ages.

#26 of the 31 Things I Love About Christmas: Twas the Night before Christmas.

I have a book. Okay, I have several books…way too many books.

But there is one book. I have had it since Christmas ’91. I got this when I was 4 years old at the Christmas Book Fair/Sale/ Extravaganza at St. Cecilia’s Church where I attended preschool. While I do remember getting Frosty the Snowman and sadly, that book didn’t survive (but I can remember and could find the exact copy I had…don’t tempt me) I also got a 2nd book. My name inscribed by my mom in black Sharpie on the inside cover is still there. Stored in a plastic protective sleeve is a children’s picture book version of Clement C. Moore’s “Twas the Night before Christmas.” (TTNBC)

This book has survived nearly 20 years…then again so have I. Plus 4. Also a surviving artifact from my younger days (from the same year) is a green, gold and black wreath ornament made from pipe cleaners. It has hung on our tree ever since and will one day hang on the tree in our home.

TTNBC is so simple in its’ form and presentation and cinema graphic in quality. When reading it or hearing it, one can almost see it as a small movie, the descriptions are immaculate and stunning, but simple enough for a small child to grasp. Plenty of words I had no idea what their meaning was until many years later…as in last year, but I still managed to understand the story.

I don’t know why this poem has stuck with me. I still don’t know all 12 Days of Christmas. Maybe it’s because that children’s book has survived this long. Does anyone have anything from preschool? Leave it to me, I guess. Not to mention the greatly underrated 1974 Rankin-Bass Christmas special of the same name was on a prized tape of Christmas specials taped in the late 80’s which we have watched into the ground, I could tell you nearly everything on it in running order. (Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Smurfs Christmas Special, A Chipmunk Christmas Special, Rudolph, Grinch, Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus, Twas The Night Before Christmas…complete with timelessly terrible 80s commericals)

I even have a teddy bear, which is holding its’ cub, which reads the entire story out loud when you press a button. Pretty cute, I know. My copy of it has been worn well. I have read it to my brother and sister; sometimes I’m even tempted to read it to Sara. It has been nearby for nearly every Christmas I can remember.

I guess this poem and especially this treasured copy is another link to those days, before college loans and car payments, when I could close my eyes and actually picture Santa Claus standing in my living room, nibbling on cookies, thrownin back the egg nog, writing a thank you note that looked strangely like my dad’s handwriting and going on his merry way. The magic of childhood. Every now and then I would hear “Don’t grow up so fast.” Now I understand. But it is memories like this one, whether that’s an old book or a handmade ornament that allows those memories, no matter how silly or bizarre they may seem to others, to survive. I intend on getting it laminated and preserved page by page, so that I am able to read the very same copy to our children one day and I sure hope, to our grandchildren and the book will be passed on when it is time.

Yea. It matters that much.