Christmas Problems: Why this is my favorite AND my least favorite holiday.

Christmas. Even if you aren't Christian, you probably celebrate it at least a little bit. It has become the secular symbol of consumerism, and unfortunately, I am played HARDEST by the corporations who want my money.

My issue is simple. I simply have NO sense of money management when Christmas rolls around. It's absolutely ridiculous. Any other time of the year, I am hard-pressed to buy ANYTHING because I am the most frugal, penny-saving freak you will ever meet.

But as soon as the Christmas trees go up in Wal-Mart, I lose every OUNCE of that sense.

So the senior class had this great idea - a GREAT idea - to let kids buy candy canes with messages for a dollar. This idea is stolen from the movie that made candy canes famous - Mean Girls. At first, I did not think this would be too big of a deal. I was going to buy four candy canes for Tatiana so that I could leave her the message "Four for you, Tatiana! You GO, Tatiana!"

Sadly, what started out as four candy canes for Tatiana turned into 16 candy canes for a multitude of people.

It was ridiculous. I started listing people because I know how nice it is to get something like that. We always send around valentines and it sucks to be the one person who doesn't receive anything. And on the other hand, getting something - even something small - can be one of the most kind gestures.

So I decided that instead of spending countless dollars trying to buy something unique for every single person who is nice to me, I would buy them a candy cane instead.

This, my friends, was not my best decision.

Because see, we come back to the idea that Christmas completely destroys my ability to say "no". It completely destroys it.

So today, when I had $35 in my wallet to spend on GRADUATION STUFF, I accidentally spent $16 of it on candy canes. SIXTEEN DOLLARS.

And naturally, I sent candy canes to people who I'm really not close friends with! My line of thinking gets crazy!

First, I buy for my best friends. Then, I buy for other friends who I am close to. Then, I buy for the siblings that I talk to of my best friends. Then, I think of people who I talk to who are closely tied to these people and start to think they will feel bad if they don't get something from me.

Then, I think of people who are nice to me and who I want to know better. Then, this makes me feel guilty for everyone else who I AM friends with, even if it isn't reciprocated.

In short, by the time my list has ended, half the school is on my list. To give you an idea, I was originally going to give around 30 candy canes. So it's good to know I have SOME restraint.

But really, this is the problem with Christmas.

I absolutely LOVE buying gifts for people. I desperately want people to be happy because no one deserves to have their holiday season ruined by anything. Especially when I am happy - and I am - I need everyone else to be happy.

And this puts a significant dent in my wallet.

Oh well.