Mixing up the presidential primary season with the Christmas season and New Year's is too much for the aging publisher's brain. Which is why I sympathize even more with our friends at Dean Kamen's FIRST program. Months and months ago, they picked a date to unveil their worldwide high school robotic problem for the 2012 competition.

Guess what weekend, during which hotel rooms will be scarce as hen's teeth, it will be?

If you guessed Jan. 6 through 8, you are a winner. And I'm glad I didn't bet you $10,000.

That will be just before the Tuesday, Jan. 10, primary and while the primary season has not been as robust or as “retail” as in the recent past, that is one weekend when the news media and candidates and special interests and guys in weird costumes will all be descending on and around Manch Vegas.

One of my friends in the political world had his own special problem to deal with recently. He was to host a big-deal primary event but when I saw him, he was much more worried about his toenails.

Seems his nine-year-old daughter talked him into letting her practice her nail polishing skills on his feet.

“Don't worry, daddy,” she assured him. “It washes off in the shower.”

Never believe a nine-year-old. It's like believing a New York Times reporter when he assures a political hack that, “this will be off the record.”

So Primary Host Guy was being very cool about the big-deal event, but he told me his fear was what “the people in the morgue” would think if he got into a car crash and they looked for identifying marks on his corpse.

My own interactions with kids have been less stressful, except on my aching back.

I was following my morning exercise routine the other day while little Ike observed.

“Pop-pop, I have an idea,” said Ike. “You can come to my house sometime and do yoga on TV with me.”

If it can help my golf swing, kid, I'm all for it.

Speaking of Christmas, it's next Sunday, lest you have been busy with dusting and hadn't noticed.

Sunday News subscribers will find their next issue delivered this Saturday, Dec. 24. It will also be available at store locations on Saturday. If you aren't a Sunday subscriber, you can have a copy delivered to your home if you contact us by noon on Thursday. Call 668-1210 or go online at UnionLeader.com/Sunday.

And have a Merry Christmas.

Write to Joe McQuaid at publisher@unionleader.com.