In honor of there being 12 days until Christmas, I thought it would be fun to make a list of some of my favorite things about the Christmas season (insert Julie Andrew reference here…) and post a new one every day.  Now, everyone knows that the best part of Christmas is being around your family and friends, so that goes without saying.  The items on my list are the fun, silly or downright cheesy parts of Christmas that just make me smile.  And I hope they make you smile, too.

For all those reading who are in their mid-thirties to mid-forties, you probably remember (and hopefully fondly so) the video clip below:

This is from “Year without  a Santa Claus”, one of the wonderful CBS Special Presentation holiday specials that were prevalent when I grew up in the 70s.  It was my favorite holiday special, but for some reason they stopped showing it on television for a number of years.  Luckily, it’s back in rotation and often replayed on ABC Family or other family friendly networks, but for a long time it was very hard to find.  In fact, in the mid 90s I remember going to the Burlington Mall in Vermont and finding a VHS copy which I purchased for $14.99.  Since I was a poor college student at the time (and, okay, somewhat frugal in my own right…) my friends were surprised that I was willing to part with that much money for such a foolish purchase.  I never once thought of it as foolish and neither did they once I forced them all to watch it.  It made me happy then and it makes me happy now.