Christmas at the Clarks

caption: You two are like a couple of kids at Christmas. Literally.

A few observations while they are still fresh.

• Christmas is a beloved holiday for all age groups, but none takes it more seriously or joyously than the 5-8 year old set. This means the 2010 Clark Family Christmas is one for the books -- with family reunion in Skillman, N.J., still to come!

• Children ages 5 to 8 can't wait until Dec. 25th. It is best to let them open presents a little bit at a time, a discovery made by K. Warner Clark in the mid 1970s. Just as geothermal tremors help prevent massive earthquakes, so do the release of gifts prevent melt downs on Christmas day. It's 10:16 a.m. -- zero melt downs.

• Theodore was up at 6:50 a.m., opening his Beyblades presents. Did you get anything really cool, Theo? "Yeah, everything," he said. That made Daddy's day.

• Natalie was in the habit of wrapping little objects around the house. On Christmas morning, she made great sport of distributing them to their rightful owners. Daddy opened a miniature Empire State Building, that he bought in 1997, and also an Tagalog-English dictionary.

• Let us not forget the reason for the season! The children watched -- as a special Christmas Eve treat -- the Simpson's Christmas last night at 7 p.m. on Fox. I close with a quote from Bart: "Christmas is the time of year when people of all religions come together and worship Jesus Christ."

• Daddy and Mommy didn't even exchange gifts. What more could we want, really? "Best Christmas ever?" Daddy asked Mommy in the living room with wrapping paper strewn about. Her answer: "Best Christmas ever."

Digital Christmas Card

The Clarks of New Jersey (left) extend their warmest Christmas wishes to you, our friends and family, and all of our figurative brothers ad sisters throughout the world!

Christmas, said St. Bartholomew Simpson, is that wonderful time of year when people of all religions come together and worship the little baby Jesus. It's also an appropriate time to send holiday cheer and end-of-year performance evaluations of all members of the immediate family.

I am happy to report that Natalie, 4; Theodore, 7; Margie and Casey all met or exceeded expectations in fiscal 2009!

Natalie Rose: Natalie has proven to be a valuable member of the team and is growing into her role as Day Care helper. She has completed a course in ballet at the Metuchen YMCA, which improved her balance and her playfulness. As her communication skills continue to develop -- she enjoys reading "novels" -- we look forward to seeing her leadership and cooperation skills improve.

Theodore: Theo continues to display creativity and innovation. As CDP Director (castles, dragons and Pokemon), Theo splits time between the Voorhees Place office and Campbell School, where he is in second grade. Management is extremely pleased with Theo's reading ability. He has taking up "Harry Potter," and management soon hopes he will take up "Tarzan of the Apes."

Margie Clark: Margie is to be commended for managing the successful turnaround of Miss Margie's DayCare Inc., a subsidiary of Clarks of New Jersey, which began operating at full capacity in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. With dedication to child-development best practices, Margie is well loved by customers and the community, and especially loved by management.

Casey Clark: Handicap slipped to 11.1 Continues to struggle to get off the tee. Short game remains strong, but needs to rededicate himself and take lessons.