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Kids Dish about the True Meaning of Christmas, Moms’ Roles in Pulling the Holidays Together and Hot Gifts on Their Wish Lists
by: ARA
(ARA) - Decorating, cooking, cleaning and more. When it comes to preparing for a picture perfect holiday season, there is one holiday elf that’s busy at work -- Mom. According to the KidzEyes Holiday Wish List and Habits survey, 64 percent of kids say that their moms bear the brunt of responsibility for making sure the Christmas season is bright versus a mere 1 percent who say dad does his fair share.

While the stress associated with the multitude of seasonal tasks could easily turn mothers into Grinches, 50 percent of kids say their moms handle the holidays like snow angels. Girls are a little tougher on mom with 52 percent claiming mom is a little crankier during the hustle of the holiday season (less than 50 percent of boys say so).

This year’s KidzEyes Holiday Wish List & Habits survey -- conducted annually by KidzEyes, a specialized youth market research division of C&R Research -- uncovers how (and if) families share holiday-related responsibilities, what’s hot and what’s not on kids’ wish lists this year, whether kids really believe in the jolly man in red and what they believe is the true meaning of Christmas.

“Our annual Holiday Wish List and Habits survey has become a recognized vehicle that gets at the heart of what kids are thinking about, doing and wishing for during the holidays,” said Robbin Jaklin, president, C&R Research. “The results provide a glimpse into what is undoubtedly kids’ favorite time of year.”

As the primary holiday gift buyer, what should moms be shopping for to give their little angels? It is certainly not clothes, which again appears at the very bottom of kids’ wish lists. Electronics continue to take the top spot (37 percent) followed by hard, cold cash (30 percent) and toys (21 percent). Boys tend to want electronics more than girls, helping to vault them to the top spot among kids.

This year kids have gift giving ideas of their own. When asked what they would give their parents if they could give them just one “big” gift, 45 percent said a vacation, 27 percent said house cleaning assistance, 16 percent said money and 12 percent said time off work. Here are some of the other things kids are saying about the holidays this year:

Holiday Hustle -- Mom versus Dad

* Where is Your Father? . . . According to the KidzEyes survey there is nothing on the family holiday to-do list that mom doesn’t do. Twenty-five percent of kids say their moms are responsible for buying the presents and decorating the house. According to kids, dad does not offer much of a helping hand with either holiday chore -- only 1 percent and 3 percent respectively.

* A Woman’s Work is Never Done . . . More than half (54 percent) of kids say that moms are the chief holiday cook. Only 4 percent say dad dons an apron. And, moms (47 percent) not dads (one percent) clean the house in preparation for the big day.

* It’s a Guy Thing . . . Dad’s domain seems to be the tree with nearly one-quarter of kids saying that putting up the tree is their dad’s main job. But, the truth is, dad puts his little elves to work as 50 percent of kids say it’s really a job the whole family shares.

* It’s a Family Affair . . . Eight out of 10 kids (87 percent) say that decorating the tree is a family tradition -- something they do together. Nearly two-thirds say the whole family pitches in when it comes to decking the halls.

* Shopping Styles -- Mom versus Dad . . . According to kids, 25 percent of dads shop for their wives the week before Christmas, while another 13 percent say their dads are scouring the stores on Christmas Eve. In sharp contrast, 55 percent of kids say their moms shop for their loving husbands a month before the big day, with only 5 percent who say that their moms wait until one week before Christmas. Less than a percent say their moms are out shopping frantically on Christmas Eve.

The True Meaning of Christmas

* Christmas Spirit . . . Even kids as young as 6 years old have a solid idea of the “true meaning of Christmas.” According to 70 percent of kids, the true meaning is celebrating the birth of Christ. Another 39 percent say it is being thankful and 37 percent say it is spending time with family. Surprisingly, only 13 percent say the true meaning is about receiving gifts.

* Charitable Hearts . . . Nearly half of kids think of others during the holidays; 48 percent say they would ask their parents to donate some of their allocated “gift” money to charity. Of all kids surveyed, girls between the ages of 6 and 8 are the most likely to give up their presents (60 percent -- 13 percent more than boys the same age). Gifts . . . What’s Hot and What’s Not

* Stop the Music! . . . Along with clothes (7 percent), kids don’t want to see music and videos (6 percent) in their heaping pile of gifts this year.

* Electronics are Tops . . . According to the survey, the best gifts are electronics (37 percent), with video game systems or handheld video games leading the category (57 percent). Those were closely followed by computers and software (53 percent), cellular telephones (38 percent), CD players (32 percent) and DVD players (31 percent).

* Boys and Machines . . . Fifty-three percent of boys age 6 to 11 want electronics versus only 18 percent of girls the same age. Conversely, girls that age wish for toys nearly twice as much as boys (39 percent versus 20 percent).

To request more information about KidzEyes call (800) KidzEyes (543-9393) or visit www.crresearch.com or www.kidzeyesomnibus.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content



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Music for the Christmas Holidays
 by: Tony Wiseman

In our multi-cultural societies today the run up to Christmas is experienced in many different ways. The commercial version pioneered by Coca Cola's magazine advertisements which established the red suited Santa Claus image, washes over us all through the TV advertisements and the decorations in the High Streets and shopping Malls. They built on and reinforced the Victorian version of Christmas celebrations which was dramatised by Charles Dickens in 'A Christmas Carol' which established many of the associated food and garland rituals in the public imagination - and helped Coca Cola promote their winter beverage sales. Much of this is accompanied by 'seasonal' music in the form of carols and hymns - often coral arrangements but sometimes instrumental - especially brass bands and the dreaded sentimental Christmas pop songs.

Music is often a subtle way of getting under the radar and evoking emotional responses from our subconscious. The commercial focus on Christmas seeks to convert these feelings into purchases - sometimes in crude direct appeals to consume but often in a more indirect atmospheric ways. While the committed Christians concentrate on re-telling the Christmas story through as many media as possible, including music - using the Advent season to recharge their spiritual batteries and encourage others to join them. Their tunes and some times even the words are often hijacked by those who wish to evoke a warm hearted relaxed atmosphere for the sale of their particular goods.

Much of this activity assumes a common Christian heritage and must strike those who do not share that background very oddly, not to mention the truly seasonal issues for those in the Southern Hemisphere who celebrate Christmas in mid summer rather than the deep mid winter. There is also the rival celebration of New Year which is a predominantly secular affair with a very limited musical repertoire - mostly of Scottish origin for some reason and this eclipses Christmas in many countries. Christians adopted the pagan Winter Solstice celebrations as part of their missionary progress but those ties were loosened by the reformation and the French, American and Russian Revolutions amongst others.

The seasonal hit at Download2MP3.com is Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite with its Sugar Plum Fairy which fits neatly into the Victorian Christmas story telling context. While Debussy's Children's Corner with it's 'The Snow is Dancing' (Northern Hemisphere Christmas/Mid Winter associations) is another favourite and forms the backbone of our Children's Classics Collection which includes several of our shorter and lower priced recordings. Other beneficaiaries include our instrumental versions of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah and Gounod's Ave Maria

Recordings like these are an ideal way to personalize those iPod or MP3 player gifts for a few dollars more - perhaps introducing children to the classics in an accessible, amusing and memorable way.



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