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With Thanksgiving behind us and more festivities in the near future, we would like to stop and say "thank you" for being one of our valued Chuck E-Club members.  As a member, you will continue to receive our most discounted offers and promotions.  Members also receive a special gift of 20 tokens on their kids' birthdays.  Wishing you and your family fun and happiness this holiday season.      

Happy Holidays,
From your Friends at Chuck E. Cheese's

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And here's the e-mail I sent them off of their website, so that they can truly know how I feel about the censoring of Christmas from their advertising.

My wife has subscribed to your newsletter so that we can hear about the wonderful things that may be occurring at Chuck E. Cheese as you offer them.  I must say that I was horribly upset when receiving the most recent e-mail from your company.  

Why is it that Chuck E. Cheese, a company that should be only about having children go and have fun has to stoop the the point of being politically correct?  As a proud Christian, and one who has been for some time, it has been recent that all around this country, there has been an all out war on Christmas.  It now seems that you have decided to be a part of that fight, and if this is the case, I will have to decide that my family will have to go and find their entertainment elsewhere.

I will also be telling other people, those with children especially, and letting them know that you have decided that it's more important to be politically correct to try to make money than to actually celebrate what this season is truly about.

I hope that you really reconsider in the future to truly celebrate what has been part of the United States of America for many generations and not bow down to the politically correct crowd in not mentioning the true reason for the Christmas season.

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Too many toys can diminish joy kids should feel
BY ELYSIA NEST Gazette Reporter

   It’s the same gluttonous scene each year in Justine Brooks’ living room.
“Christmas morning, my kids run downstairs and like little Tazmanian devils they tear open all their presents,” said the Schaghticoke resident and mother of two. “I would say there are between 10 and 15 presents for each of my children under the tree. They play with their new toys for a day or two, . . . and then I don’t see most of those toys again, well, ever.”
   The worst part, she said, is that she and her partner agreed years ago that Christmas would never be relegated to “just another materialistic holiday.”
   “We’ve tried to keep it that way. We only purchase the boys two [items] each, and it’s not big-ticket stuff, either. The rest of the [toys] come from relatives. I have a big family that ships things from all over the country. I can’t [withhold] it from my kids because I would offend everybody. But I feel a knot in my stomach when they are opening everything. It just doesn’t seem right,” she said.
LOSING THE SPECIALNESS
   Vicki Panaccione, a Melbourne, Fla.-based child psychologist and founder of the Better Parenting Institute, said showering a child with gifts isn’t only a bad idea, but numerous studies indicate youngsters who receive an abundance of material items come Christmas can actually be made to feel more miserable then their gift-deprived counterparts.
   “Too many gifts all at once can take the specialness away from any one of the items. They all sort of blend together,” she said. “[They] can also spoil the enthusiasm and appreciation. When there are so many things to open, kids can open one, say ‘Wow,’ and then move on to the next. They aren’t really encouraged to savor the moment, or even take it out of the box, or heaven forbid, play with it.”
   She added that “a bunch of new toys acquired at once” can quite easily overwhelm a child’s developing senses and have a negative effect on the psyche. “Too much stimulation and too many choices can actually result in acting out or withdrawal behaviors. Little nervous systems have a hard time processing and dealing with so much information coming at them at one time,” she said.
   So, what is a well-meaning parent to do?
   First, Panaccione said, parents prone to overbuying need to take a long, hard look at the reasons they pile on the presents.
   “We love our kids,” she said. “And these events are opportunities to shower them with love. As parents, we enjoy giving maybe even more than the kids enjoy receiving. There’s nothing like watching the excitement and joy on our kids’ faces as they receive things we carefully selected for just that purpose. So, there’s a bit of a selfish reason.”
   But parents shouldn’t shoulder all the blame.
   The toy industry is always working tirelessly to make it seem as though the success of the holidays can only be measured in how many gifts one receives.
   “I think it is a shame kids are being raised with that expectation. They look to see how many presents there are under the tree, and kids’ desires and expectations are becoming unbelievably more expensive and sophisticated at younger ages,” Panaccione said.
   “As long as parents give into societal pressures, they actually may be inadvertently raising kids who have ultra-high and in many cases unreasonable expectations, a sense of entitlement, diminished sense of excitement and joy and a lack of appreciation for what they are given. I know this sounds harsh, yet I see the results in my office every day.”
RECALIBRATING EXPECTATIONS
   Panaccione, in conjunction with several other experts, said there are simple steps parents can take to prevent a child from winding up overstimulated and underappreciative this holiday season.
   Les Parrott, author of “The Parent You Want To Be: Who You are Matters More Than What You Do” and co-founder of Realrelationships.com, said children should write up their wish lists and then prioritize them.
   “Parents should give their kids lots of time to think about the wish list. Set your conversations up to let them know that they are likely to receive maybe two or three of their top choices — or maybe just their top choice,” he said. “The goal here is the help them recalibrate their expectations so they aren’t disappointed when they don’t get the entire FAO catalog. And have them think about what it will be like to have that toy four months later. Will they still enjoy having it? Get them to see beyond the initial excitement of the gift. This will help them prioritize their preferences,” he said.
   Kevin Murphy, manager of The Toy Maker in Albany’s Stuyvesant Plaza, said as a father he never liked the idea of giving kids everything they desired. “I’m a big believer in surprising,” he said.
   To keep the element of surprise alive, said Panaccione, strive to give children gifts they can build upon. Contribute to a hobby or add to an existing collection of baseball cards, stamps, stickers, journals for budding writers or art supplies — such as Play-Doh, crayons or drawing paper for the little artist in the family.
   Also, keep in mind that gifts needn’t always be material in nature.
   “Use your imagination,” said Panaccione. Rather than giving a toy, plan an activity. This can include going to the zoo or the aquarium, attending a children’s theater performance, seeing a much-anticipated movie on opening day or taking a train ride.
CREATIVE IOUS
   “I like coupons and IOU’s for privileges, outings, et cetera,” she said.
   “So, for example, . . . gift cards for the movies, movie rentals or an IOU for pizza and movie night,” she said. “One gift that’s really neat for older kids is an IOU for a specific activity one time a month. IOU a trip to Starbucks, breakfast out, a manicure, et cetera. It gives kids something to look forward to and an opportunity to build in special time with your kids throughout the year. It can be a pass for no chores for a week, or get-out-of-jail free [pass for one misbehavior or dreaded chore] extra bedtime on the weekends or opportunities for sleepovers.”
   Parents could also add privileges, Panaccione said. “The dog gets to sleep with you, extra calling minutes or texting messages, getting to pick what they want to listen to on the radio on the way to school or not bugging them about something.”
   She adds: “Please honor them within a reasonable period of time, or they will not only lose their value but you will lose some trust.”
   Children who will be getting toys should learn the value of donating their old toys, said Carl G. Arinoldo, a psychologist practicing in Stony Brook and author of the book “Essentials of Smart Parenting: Learning the Fine Art of Managing Your Children.”
   Toys that aren’t played with for a long time, he said, are good candidates for the giveaway pile — whether their destination is the Salvation Army, the church nursery or a younger sibling’s toy box. It’s never too soon to start teaching children about charity.
PACING THEMSELVES
   If you are still intent on giving your child a mostly material-based Christmas, Panaccione urges parents to at least let little ones pace themselves.
   “If [kids] are being urged to open the next gift, then they are inadvertently being told that this one isn’t special. If a child wants to take something out of the package and play with it, let him. Don’t tell him we’ll do that later and then have him open another one. If it needs batteries, have them ready. Follow their lead — go with their enthusiasm; don’t diminish it. When we urge them to focus on the next gift, it is not really for the child’s sake — it’s for ours. So we can enjoy. But, in the process, we are taking the joy out of experiencing the gift at hand,” she said.

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Modern Santas worry about how they interact with kids
Fat man’s hands must be visible in all photos
BY MEGHAN BARR The Associated Press

   Life is not so jolly for the 21st century Santa Claus.
   He keeps his white gloved hands where parents can see them and buys liability insurance, just in case. He doesn’t ask for names or where children live — that might arouse suspicion. He’s given up the pipe, and the jelly belly might be next.
   And while he may bring tidings of joy, the man in the red suit endures criminal background checks like everybody else.
   “A lot of people think all you gotta be is a nice old man,” says Timothy Connaghan, professional Santa instructor and president of The Kringle Group, LLC, a conglomeration of North Pole-centric businesses. “Put a suit on, sit in a chair. But you have to be politically correct.”
   Today’s Kris Kringle is poked, prodded and tailored to fit our times. It’s no longer enough to show up at the mall, laugh merrily and hoist children on his lap. In fact, that job is now considered better left to parents, to avoid inappropriate touching.
   In mistletoed shopping malls across America, Santa Claus is watching his back.
   “Santa should not be involved in politics. Santa should not curse,” says Nicholas Trolli, president of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas. “Santa should be
jolly at all times.”
   The Santa Claus backgroundscreening requests started rolling in three years ago, says Les Rosen, president of Employment Screening Resources in Novato, Calif.
   “You would hope if there’s anyone in this world you can trust, it’s Santa,” Rosen says. “We’re in a world now where you can trust but you need to verify as well.”
   The firm scours national databases and court records for arrest warrants, sexual offenses and any other black marks that might soil a Santa’s reputation. Nearly 500 prospective Santas will filter through the system this year.
   Rosen recently struck up a partnership with RealSantas.com, a booking agency owned by The Kringle Group.
   “I am pleased to say at this point, my faith in Santa Claus remains steadfast,” Rosen says. “Everyone who comes through our system so far has passed and qualified to go forth and spread Christmas joy.”
   While such assurances may comfort anxious parents, liability insurance spares Santa from unwarranted grief.
   “If a child is walking by and trips — not even near you — and gets hurt, someone might say it’s your fault,” says Connaghan. “Because you are an attractive nuisance.”
SANTA 101
   Everything is choreographed in the land of Santa, down to each word and hand movement. The tricks of the trade are passed down at various Santa schools scattered across the country. Connaghan takes his academy — The International University of Santa Claus — on the road, making pit stops in different cities.
   Major topics of study include how to hold children correctly, managing sticky conversations and proper care of hair and beard.
   Santa’s hands should be visible in all photos, Connaghan says. And he must never make promises he can’t keep.
   “What if something happens and they don’t get that present?” says Trolli. “Then that child is disillusioned and disappointed. We don’t want to see that happen.”
   And what if a little girl or boy confides in Santa, revealing physical abuse at home? Though it may surprise some, Santa can’t just leap off his chair and tell the police. Instead he must enlist the help of a teacher or principal, who are protected from libel in case of false accusations, according to Trolli.
   As Santa strives to fit modern standards, he is increasingly expected to maintain a real, snowwhite beard.
   “Gentlemen who have real beards, they work real hard at what they do,” Connaghan says. “It’s not just the 30-day holiday season. Some of them spend months getting ready to look right.”
   Yet some Santa Claus powerhouses deny any pre-holiday preparation. “Macy’s has always maintained that we have the one and only real Santa Claus. There is no process,” says spokesman Orlando Veras. “There is nothing to go through since he is the real guy.”
SLIMMING DOWN
   In keeping with the anti-smoking times, the man from the North Pole put down his pipe a long time ago. Now, defying his rotund image, Santa is trying to lose weight.
   “People expect Santa to be big, big, big, big,” says Ron Levine, a Santa from Wappingers Falls, N.Y., who is, in fact, Jewish. “I’m 225 to 250 pounds, so my belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly. Am I trying to lose some weight? Oh yes, every day. Because it’s necessary for my health.”
   The AORBS, that alliance of bearded Santas, will stage a weighin this summer at its annual convention in Overland Park, Kan. Each Santa who fails to meet his weight-loss goal will pay a fee toward a charity.
   “The problem is the children don’t care if Santa’s fat,” says Trolli. “It’s the parents who want Santa fat.”
   Santa has recognized the importance of being eco-conscious, too. Levine, billed as the “Green Santa,” is donning a suit of that color and promoting the environment at FAO Schwarz this Christmas season while promoting a new children’s book: “When Santa Turned Green.”
   In the story, Santa notices a leak in his ceiling, climbs onto the roof to investigate and discovers the North Pole is melting.
   “There’s wind and solar power for his factory now and energy effi - cient lighting,” says author Victoria Perla. “He even asks Mrs. Claus to sew him green Santa suits. Except on Christmas Eve — then he wears his red suit.”
SANTA, RE-IMAGINED
   An evolving Santa Claus should come as no surprise, as the mythic figure has metamorphosed often since entering the American cultural landscape in 1820, says Stephen Nissenbaum, author of the Pulitzer prize-nominated “The Battle for Christmas.”
   Originally a stern-faced bishop named St. Nicholas, the modernday Santa Claus acquired his cherubic characteristics over a long string of poems, cartoons and advertisements. His judgmental demeanor — alternately doling out lumps of coal and presents to the naughty and the nice, respectively — melted away, producing a toyfriendly grandfatherly chap.
   “He was never stable. I mean he was invented in the 1800s by these people who pretended they were restoring an old Dutch tradition,” Nissenbaum says. “And then the picture of him is changing, and it’s not until the 1970s that he sort of stabilizes.”
   Despite the complications of their profession, most Santas say the job isn’t about beard maintenance or filling out insurance forms — and a little change never hurt.
   “It’s not in the beard and hair. It’s not in the suit,” Levine says. “It’s not in the gloves, it’s not in the boots. It’s in the heart and mind. And kids will know.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tim Connaghan puts on his boots as he prepares for a parade last week in Los Angeles

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Not everyone is in love with the holiday season

    The twelfth month is upon us — the month of least daylight and most darkness. I always feel the descent coming on as November winds down. The last desperate, kicking, screaming attempt to hold onto the light has finally let go. I am exhausted, still hoping this year the sadness will somehow pass me by. But it’s too late — December has descended. It’s done. Nothing left to do but endure. And there is much to endure in December.
    For those even slightly prone to depression, December can be the cruelest time. The cheerfulness of the holiday lovers rings false and mocks our dark spirits. Are the holiday lovers for real? Do blinking, colored lights and timeworn tunes really bring them this much joy? Does shopping for gift cards really make them feel that good about themselves? How we depressives long for their simple pleasures. How we wish it was that easy to be happy. I guess we think too much.
    December is bad enough by itself, but if you have suffered any setbacks or losses during the year, the emotional pain is intensified by this artificially cheery month. Imagine how trivial this all must seem to someone who has lost a child or lost a love or lost a way of life.
    Personally, I would like to smack Brenda Lee and Burl Ives for the hokey singing that grates on the ears and insults the brooding mind. Singing chipmunks and reindeer-killed grandmas cause some of us to question our membership in a humanity that rejoices in this shared mania. Year after year, our senses are assaulted by this inane so-called holiday music.
    As for the real meaning of Christmas, I can only hope that true Christians are as insulted by this false gaiety as I am, and for reasons far more meaningful than my mine.
    So, I ask you, if you know a few people who are a little less than thrilled with the happy holiday season, please give them a break and give them hugs. They are doing the best they can. They know that if they can get through December, things will seem a little brighter in January. It’ll take all the strength they have to get there. We faithfully await the return of the light and lightening of our spirits.
    KAREN BURKE
    Fonda

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Rejecting Christmas — as a Christian
Many earlier Protestant denominations did not celebrate the holiday
BY TOM BREEN The Associated Press

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As Christmas draws near, Pastor John Foster won’t be decorating a tree, shopping for last-minute gifts or working on a holiday sermon for his flock. After all, it’s been 50 years since Christmas was anything more than a day of the week to him.
    He’s one of very few American Christians who follow what used to be the norm in many Protestant denominations — rejecting the celebration of Christmas on religious grounds.
    “People don’t think of it this way, but it’s really a secular holiday,” said Foster, a Princeton-based pastor in the United Church of God. He last celebrated Christmas when he was 8.
    His church’s objection to Christmas is rare among U.S. Christians. Gallup polls from 1994 to 2005 consistently show that more than 90 percent of adults say they celebrate Christmas, including 84 percent of non-Christians.
    That’s a huge change from an earlier era, when many Protestants ignored or actively opposed the holiday. But as it gradually became popular as a family celebration, churches followed their members in making peace with Christmas.
    The change didn’t happen overnight. Through much of the 19th century, schools and businesses remained open, Congress met in session and some churches closed their doors, lest errant worshippers try to furtively commemorate the day.
    “The whole culture didn’t stop for Christmas,” said Bruce Forbes, a religious studies professor at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. “Government went on as usual, business went on as usual, school went on as usual.”
    In researching his book, “Christmas: A Candid History,” Forbes discovered that major American denominations — Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Methodists and Congregationalists — either ignored the holiday or actively discouraged it until the late 19th century.
    That rejection was rooted in the lack of biblical sanction for Dec. 25 as the date of Jesus’ birth, as well as suspicion toward traditions that developed after the earliest days of Christianity. In colonial New England, this disapproval extended to actually making the holiday illegal, with celebration punishable by a fine.
    “Some somehow observe the day,” wrote Boston Puritan Samuel Sewall on Christmas Day 1685, “but are vexed, I believe, that the body of people profane it, and blessed be God no authority yet compels them to keep it.”
TIMES CHANGE
Some 322 years later, Sewall might be surprised to see his congregation — today known as Old South Church — proudly displaying a decorated Christmas tree outside the church.
    “We think it’s cheerful and seasonal,” said Nancy Taylor, senior minister of Old South, one of America’s most venerable congregations, counting among its past worshippers not only Sewall but Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams.
    Now part of the United Church of Christ, Old South not only has a Christmas tree, but encourages its 650 or so members to exchange Christmas presents — although the focus is on charitable donations and service, rather than shopping.
    “We are the descendants of the Puritans and Pilgrims, but we have loosened up a lot since then,” Taylor said. “We have changed and adapted and I think that’s part of why we haven’t died out.”
    Like Sewall’s successors, the mainline Protestant churches have learned to accommodate Christmas. But the change came from the pews rather than the pulpit.
    Christmas benefited from a 19th century “domestication of religion,” said University of Texas history professor Penne Restad, in which faith and family were intertwined in a complementary set of values and beliefs.
    Christmas became acceptable as a family-centered holiday, Restad said, once it lost its overtly religious significance.
    At the same time, aspects of the holiday like decorated trees and gift-giving became status symbols for an aspirant middle class. When Christmas began its march toward dominance among holidays, it was because of a change in the culture, not theology.
MINISTERS FOLLOW FLOCK
    “In America, the saying is that the minister follows the people, the people don’t follow the minister,” Restad said. “This was more of a sociological change than a religious one. The home and the marketplace had more sway than the church.”
    That’s partly why Christians like the United Church of God reject the holiday: They say divine instruction, rather than culture and society, should determine whether the holiday is appropriate.
    “It’s common knowledge that Christmas and its customs have nothing to do with the Bible,” said Clyde Kilough, president of the United Church of God, which has branches all over the world. “The theological question is quite simple: Is it acceptable to God for humans to choose to worship him by adopting paganism’s most popular celebrations and calling them Christian?”
    There is still lingering unease with the holiday in denominations that once rejected it. This can be glimpsed in worries about commercialization and in individual Christians like Phillip Ross.
    Ross is an elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Vienna, near Parkersburg. Well-versed in the history of Christianity, Christmas and Presbyterianism, Ross knows his church historically objected to Christmas.
    On the other hand, Ross is also a father of two, and while he made up his mind to reject Christmas as a teenager, his children’s early years included gifts, decorations and a tree.
    “I have a love-hate relationship with Christmas,” he said. “It seems obvious to me that there’s nothing scriptural about it, but that’s a hard sell with children.”

Pastor John Foster stands in front of the one of the only trees not decorated for Christmas at the United Church of God in Princeton. He’s one of very few American Christians who follow what used to be the norm in many Protestant churches, rejecting the celebration of Christmas on religious grounds.

Pastor John Foster stands in front of the one of the only trees not decorated for Christmas at the United Church of God in Princeton. He’s one of very few American Christians who follow what used to be the norm in many Protestant churches, rejecting the celebration of Christmas on religious grounds.
JON C. HANCOCK/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Remember our country is probably the last great social EXPERIMENT.

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If Christmas season gets you down, you’re not alone

    Karen Burke’s Dec. 13 letter, “Not everyone is in love with the holiday season” very eloquently states problems that some people face at this time of year. Shenendehowa United Methodist Church in Clifton Park offers an alternative Blue Christmas service for those who have gone through a loss during the year, or are facing other difficulties in their lives. The service is on Dec. 21. [at 7 p.m.]
    There may be medical reasons for depression. People should check with their physicians. Seasonal affective disorder, low thyroid levels and other medical problems can cause depression.
    A spiritual advisor can offer comfort, guidance and support. They can also be a resource for agencies that are available in the community. The Daily Gazette did an insightful article last year about the Blue Christmas service [Dec. 24, 2006]. Rev. William Hinrichs from St. George’s Espicopal Church in Clifton Park was interviewed for the article.
Remember you are not alone. There are other people who have similar feelings about the holiday season that you do. There is hope. Go see your physician, talk to your minister, rabbi or priest, and find out what community services are available to you.
EILEEN BEACH
Niskayuna

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There may be medical reasons for depression. People should check with their physicians. Seasonal affective disorder, low thyroid levels and other medical problems can cause depression.