Letters to the President #1420: 'Holiday parties'

Reporter's Note: President Obama has not yet invited me to a holiday party at the White House. But, you never know…

Dear Mr. President,

I certainly look forward to seeing you at the big concert tonight. I know that you don’t always make it, so if you can’t, I will certainly understand, but it is always a good time so I hope you are there. Speaking of good times, are you planning any big holiday parties this year?

I can’t really imagine how you would fit them in, mind you. My wife and I have hosted a few holiday parties over the years, but not many and the fundamental reason has always been simple: It is hard to find the time.

This is not a great excuse, I realize, because certainly our friends who have hosted parties have had no more time for the task than we, but you take my point.

How our holidays became this crowded with events I can’t really say. When we were a young couple, we seemed to have no end of time for parties, movies, shopping, decorating, baking…you name it. I suppose children are a big part of the equation. As soon as our girls came along we shifted our interests almost entirely to making the holidays memorable for them, and to that end we were much more willing to load up the calendar with events they might enjoy.

Also, as I have noted before, I think our whole society has just gone a little crazy with activities. And on top of all that, we didn’t live in Washington when we were younger, so maybe the communities we knew then were just less busy…or perhaps easier in which to get around so we wasted less time in transit.

Anyway, I don’t see much chance that we will decide to throw a party all of a sudden this year, so if you don’t receive an invitation, please don’t be offended. You won’t be the only one not invited. Ha!

Call if you can.

Regards,
Tom