I survived the Decembers of my childhood by distracting myself with sugar cookies and holiday cartoons.  Waiting for Christmas is maddening for a kid.  The anticipation of unopened gifts is sheer torture.   During this unbearable season of expectancy, I took comfort in the company of Frosty, Charlie Brown and the Grinch. 

In my day we didn’t have DVRs, DVDs, VCRs or even cable.  There were no digital downloads, no Netflix or iTunes.  We had no programming on demand.  This scarcity made watching the annual Christmas classics a special event of epic proportions.  You couldn’t just see this stuff any time you wanted, so you had to plan your life around it.  I remember circling the show times in the TV Guide and counting down to each cartoon like a NASA launch. 

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