My little one is starting preschool this week and the required supply list for the school includes a lunch box. I found this vintage style Peanuts lunch box online. I remember a couple of kids in my 1st grade class having blue Peanuts lunch boxes...
While my Gen Z daughter will soon enough have her own pop culture, for now, I want to give her as much Gen X pop culture as I can. And some things seem to span the generations - some things somehow end up timeless. I think Peanuts is one of these things.
This week, my family and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas while sipping hot chocolate. Recently, I have thought a lot about Gen Xers as kids watching classic holiday specials as the weather turns cold - a Gen X seasonal ritual. Getting the full experience of any Charlie Brown holiday pretty much requires that you drink hot chocolate and curl up on the couch with a blanket - possibly like the one Linus has.
For all of the evenings throughout my growing-up years that this was shown on TV, I invariably was trying to get through a mountain of homework, and I'd watch it during a study break. No matter what math test was coming up that week that I was stressing about, no matter how behind I was on my history paper, whenever this came on TV, this song made me feel so peaceful - like everything would be completely okay.... (Get a cup of hot chocolate ready before you watch this if you can.)
I remember standing and talking with a Gen X friend in her living room when we were teenagers. I was chatting on about something inconsequential and this was on the TV right near us. She asked me with a certain seriousness to be quiet for a moment so we could watch this. It felt that in this moment we were in the presence of something sacred. This scene had been very important to her throughout her childhood, and it made me realize how important this was to the childhood of Gen X.
Frustrated again and again by how commercialized Christmas has become, Charlie Brown asks, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" This is the answer he gets....
"Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about.
Lights, please.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field...
...keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them...
...and the glory of the Lord shone round about them...
...and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them: 'Fear not, for behold,
I bring you tidings of great joy...
...which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a savior...
...which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you.
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.'
And suddenly, there was with the angel...
...a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in
the highest, and on Earth, peace, goodwill toward all.
That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
This has become one of the most beloved animated Christmas specials of all time and it has a special place in the heart of many Gen Xers.
