I’ve listened to Christmas in the Stars: A Star Wars Christmas Album a lot over the years. I started listening to it as a little kid, and it’s still one of my favorites. When I was little there were two parts of the album that I didn’t really get. One was in the song, “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)” and the other was in the song “The Meaning of Christmas”.
In “What Can You Get a Wookie for Christmas”, the droids decide to give Chewbacca “love and understanding,” since he already has a comb. “What kind of a present is that?” little me wondered. You can’t play with love and understanding. You can’t wrap it or unwrap it. I knew love and understanding to be good things, but not what I would’ve wanted for Christmas. And I couldn’t imagine Chewbacca really wanting them either.
In “The Meaning of Christmas”, S. Claus says to the droids, “Every time you build a toy you’ve already been given a gift.” I didn’t understand this on any level at the time. What kind of gift were they given? Who gave it to them? This seemed worse than love and understanding.
Now that I’m older and have been Santa, I think I get it, though. My child’s love and understanding is all I need. Every gift I put under the tree makes me legitimately happy. As an adult, I don’t get many gifts for Christmas outside of underwear and socks. But Christmas is a lot more satisfying than it ever was before. Every gift I give to my kid is a gift to myself at the same time.
