Cash-Poor at Christmas Is Not Cute

Home-decorated tree …

You probably have seen picturebooks that show family members giving each other little homemade tokens that thrill them at Christmas. Or rescuing a kitten that becomes the gift to everyone.

Maybe the most “American” of the holiday-stories-to-teach-you were the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. If you can overlook Ma’s comments that denigrate Native Americans — and I can’t, but I did as a child…