Christmas is right around the corner! Even though the pandemic may have ruined some of our plans, it’s good to remember what makes Christmas, Christmas. Whether it be watching a traditional holiday movie near a warm fireplace or playing Secret Santa with relatives you don’t know the name of, Christmas is for everyone, and everyone has traditions that make Christmas special to them. High school students were asked through an online survey what their favorite Christmas traditions were, and here are some of the results.
“My family tradition is to go to my grandparents’ house and all my family comes, like my cousins and aunt,” one person said. “We go to church on Christmas Eve and it is so much fun. My favorite is when they turn off all the lights and we sing “Silent Night” with candles. We then go home and the next day we have our big Christmas dinner (it’s actually lunch, but my grandparents call it dinner because they live in the country). After all the dishes are done, we open presents. A new tradition that we have is switching gifts between our cousins to make my mom and my aunt’s lives easier. We then watch movies and play with our presents.”
April Paul, a ninth-grader, said: “Every Christmas Eve we go to church and then to my grandma’s house to play games and eat food. When it gets later all the kids gather around and we track where Santa is at. When we go home, we put out cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer. Then, we all get snuggled into bed and my mom reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to my sisters and I. Finally, all the kids wake up early on Christmas morning to eagerly open up the presents that Santa has left behind.”
Another ninth-grader, Piper Swanson, said: “When I am at my grandparents’ house, they have a Santa come over and everyone has to sit on his lap to get a present. I also go on the lake to ice skate and play games with my cousins. On Christmas Eve, we go to a church service and once we get back, we get to open presents from our parents. My family normally watches all the Christmas movies we can if we’re at home on Christmas Day.”
“On my dad’s side for Christmas, we have Christmas a day after Thanksgiving with my grandma and my cousins,” Addison Cihak, a seventh-grader said. “Then on Christmas Eve, we go to my grandma’s house on my mom’s side. We also make Christmas cookies a week before Christmas, and then we deliver them.”
This year will definitely be different because it’s hard to get together. However, through the rough times, we can still celebrate Christmas. We can still open presents, have a Christmas dinner, go ice skating on the lake, watch cheesy Hallmark movies, deliver holiday cookies, and most importantly, Santa will still come! Things will be different, but we have to remember that everything will be okay in the end. Happy Holidays, everyone!
