I have two young children, so you see how Christmas afternoon is a large deal around our home.
However, it also presents a huge problem for me.
For the last more than two years I have had to labor on Christmas Eve plus Christmas Day. I never want to ruin the Christmas experience by not being present with our family, however on the other hand these emergency repairs pay large money so I can hardly afford to turn them down. The only reason I can even afford to have a great Christmas for our kids is by working these extra jobs. The business I labor for has a 24 hour emergency Heating as well as A/C hotline, so people can call us 24/7 for help. When customers need heating service after hours it costs a little more, plus if they want help on a major holiday, it costs A LOT more. Taking on a furnace service job on Christmas will pay triple our normal rate, so you understand that I have to take the call… Last Christmas afternoon I got an emergency furnace service call, plus our oldest kid James asked if he could come with me. James wanted to spend the holiday with his dad, even if that meant being in a basement plus working on a broken heater! Not only did I take James with me, although I gave him a company shirt plus baseball cap with the logo of the Heating as well as A/C company on it, to make James feel like a real employee. It took us about numerous hours to service that furnace, plus I must confess it is now one of our number one Christmas memories.