Chistmas makes you feel...murderous?

So, instead of going back to bed for 30 minutes after my shower (truly, one of my very favorite things to do!!), I have decided to write this morning and tell a little bit about my day yesterday.

It all began when I went over to the Mall to help judge the submissions for the Christmas story contest. The stories had to be written by someone from Kindergarten to Grade 5, and they had to start with either " 'Twas the night before Christmas..." or "Once upon a Time". So, three of us read through the 411 submissions. It didn't take as long as I thought it would for the following reasons:

1. Most of the stories were pretty short - usually about a page long.

2. Tons of them borrowed heavily from recent Christmas movies. There was a lot of Jack Frosts, Gingy (from Shrek...not a Christmas move, but Gingerbread man, come on), and some evil elf named Grimley showed up in about 50 stories??!! As soon as I saw these characters, I would pretty much stop reading as originality was the main criteria.

3. You could also stop as soon as you saw one or (shockingly) all of the following: knives, grenades, evil Santa, any killing of Santa, demons, Santa vs the Easter Bunny, wars, and any story cover absolutely bristling with glitter (I think there is still some in my my hair...) There are some seriously twisted kids out there who want to kill Santa, and who have seen movies that I probably still wouldn't watch...Saw 4 shown at the store isn't sounding so controversial anymore becuase of my favorite title of the day:

4."The night I thought I saw Jason Voorhies on Christmas and my Birthday" complete with illustration of a young child cowering under the covers while a fully-suited Jason stands menacingly in the doorway. This from a grade 4 student. I mean, I think Santa saved the kid, but it is still highly disturbing, nonetheless.

The winners wrote some sweet and original stories, and Chapters gave them 50 dollar gift cards. Tne winning school also received a 500 dollar gift card.

Have a wonderful morning and day, everyone!!