CK Cartoons Four

Christmas is coming early this year!  Er, at least the CK cartoons regarding Christmas are coming early.  I considered posting some out of sequence and coming back and posting these during actual Christmas season (which, if you believe the ads on TV and displays you see in stores, starts November 1) but I decided not to ruin the order of the series.  There are notable changes as it goes on, although sadly the artwork remains conspicuously crude.

Speaking of holidays, tell me what are your traditions?  Back when I was a kid, my grandmother and uncle would drive from Peoria, IL to Columbus, OH and stay with us for a couple of days every Thanksgiving.  Often she would bring us presents wrapped in newspaper, which I thought was normal until I tried it with a friend in elementary school and got a very puzzled response.  To her credit, she raised two kids on nothing but social security (her husband—my grandfather—died when my mother was only four) so thriftiness was kind of a must for her.  My mother tells me I adopted many of her almost borderline-obsessive mannerisms with regards to organization and thriftiness.

Christmas was always a nuclear family thing; just my brother and parents at home.  We always listened to Christmas music while decorating the tree (always a real tree, and usually one from our backyard somewhere).  On Christmas Eve, we opened presents sent from relatives.  My parents also opened presents from each other and my brother Ethan and I, and he and I exchanged our own presents.  But gifts from Santa Clause always happened on actual Christmas morning.  After a full day of cooking, we usually ate around 8 P.M. (early for us!).  We always had goose instead of turkey for Christmas.

Like many family traditions, ours sort of fell apart as Ethan and I got older.  For many of the last few years, I’ve actually been at work on a lot of holidays (fortunately this year I will have Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve off).  Being in another state this year will also present a unique challenge.

Tell me what your traditions were/are in the comments section, but not before you enjoy a full five cartoon strips of CK’s Life:  Between the Meals!