David Spates "Therefore I Am" Published Dec. 21, 2004

Carrots: The true meaning of Christmas

It's probably a good thing the wife and I had kids when we did. I was getting a little too cynical about Christmas, and that's a shame. I was in danger of being forever Grinched.

If you don't view the holiday through a child's eyes from time to time, it's easy for the cynicism to creep in. After all, we adults insist on giving Christmas a two-month-long headache. Adults spend weeks hunting for the "perfect" gift, store to store to store, Web site to Web site to Web site. It's kind of fun at first, but shopping wears thin pretty quickly. Plus you have the decorating, the cooking, the cleaning, the re-run office parties, the stack of Christmas cards to write and mail -- blech. And then, in January, just when you thought Christmas was just a faint memory, the Ghost of Christmas (Just) Past pays a visit. And pays. And pays. And pays.

Yeah, it's safe to say we adults have done a number on Christmas. But children are able to see Christmas for what it should be, what it ought to be, what it was before the grown-ups got a hold of it.

Christmas should be more fun than work, and kids have a way of forcing adults to loosen up and have some fun, despite themselves. For instance, I found myself engaged in an absurdly fun conversation with my 3-year-old daughter at the grocery store. As we were walking through the produce section, she spotted some carrots. Her eyes lit up, and she nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Daddy, Daddy! We need to get some carrots for Santa's reindeer! I see the carrots right over there. The reindeer need carrots!"

When my wife was a little girl, she and her family left carrots alongside the Big Guy's milk and cookies. As any farmhand will confirm, you must take care of the livestock because the livestock take care of you. My family didn't leave carrots when I was a little boy, but I'm happy to adopt new traditions. That's what marriage is all about. You take the good stuff from two families and combine it. Besides, I told the preacher I'd love, honor and leave carrots near the chimney.

But when we walked toward the carrots, my daughter looked confused.

"What kind of carrots do reindeer like?" she asked, gazing down at the full-size, pointy carrots complete with green stems and also the bag of little, stemless baby carrots in plastic bags.

Parenthetically, did you know that baby carrots are really just regular chopped carrots with the pieces' ends rounded off? They're hugely popular, and yet anyone with a few extra carrots and a $29 Mr. Wizard rock tumbler can make them.

"Well, I think the reindeer like the big carrots, the ones with the green stems," I replied, taking note of the difference in price. I suspect a big industrial carrot tumbler runs a little more than $29, and the carrot company has to recoup that cost somehow, right? "The green stems give the reindeer energy so they can fly all night long."

"Yeah!" she squealed. "The reindeer need to pull Santa's sleigh all night, and the green stems make them big and strong."

So we bought the carrots with the stems. If the reindeer conk out early Christmas Eve, it won't be our fault. We're doing our bit.

It didn't occur to me until we were halfway home what a "Christmasy" moment that was. My daughter wasn't thinking about credit limits or stress or mall traffic -- she was concerned about Santa's reindeer, and she wanted to make certain we got them the right carrots. If that's not what Christmas is all about, I don't know what is. She was thinking of others (albeit mythical flying beasts of burden), and all she wanted was to make them happy.

Like I said, if I weren't able to see Christmas through the eyes of my kids, I'd get a little Grinchier every year. I'm glad they're around to keep their old man smiling.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. Oh, and by the way, feel free to stop by our place for a bite to eat. I have a feeling Santa's reindeer are going to add those carrots to a big pot of stew.

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David Spates is a Knoxville resident and Crossville Chronicle contributor whose column is published each Tuesday. He can be reached at davespates@chartertn.net.