What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? You probably think of something like a pine tree decorated with lights, gifts wrapped with a bow, and cookies with little reindeer on top of them. Christmas is such a unique but loved holiday 36% of Americans claim it to be their favorite holiday. The holiday is a Christian tradition that began in 336 AD and is held on December 25th every year worldwide.
Although it is a religious holiday, much of the world celebrates this day including 85% of Americans to allow their family to grow closer together and have a fun family celebration. Throughout the whole month of December, people will hold Christmas parties and on the actual day, kids wake up to presents under the tree from Santa. Santa originates from Saint Nicholas, a monk who reverted from his untold generosity, and selflessness. The myth of Santa tells children that Santa is the figure of Christmas who climbs through their chimney and into their house, eating the Christmas cookies and milk that the kids left out for him, and goes to their Christmas tree to put presents for when they wake. This is the only day of the year that the littles will wake up early, eager to see what Santa has left them.
Christmas, however, goes a lot further than just a one-day celebration. Some people wake up on the 1st of November; almost two months before the day, and feel an incredible urge to start their Christmas traditions. They decorate with giant blow-ups of reindeer, Santa, elves, and more. The US radio station even began to play Christmas music on November 1st, the old songs, the new ones, the religious ones, and even the traditional ones. Songs with titles like Grandma Got Ran over by a Reindeer, All I Want for Christmas is You, and the original Jingle Bells.
However, A junior at Lodi High School Andre Pardo claims, “Christmas should be celebrated in December, to recognize and show respect to Thanksgiving,” showing the belief that Christmas should begin to be celebrated in December to give time to celebrate Thanksgiving, by giving thanks to many, and of course leaving extra time to finish all of the turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing leftover from the giant feast on the fourth Thursday of November. If it’s ok for Christmas to be celebrated months in advance, why can’t there be at least one month for Thanksgiving?
No matter when people think Christmas should be celebrated, no one should be a Grinch. There are 2 versions of the iconic movie The Grinch, a cartoon movie created in 2018, and a more realistic version titled How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which came out in 2000. Both films, have differences, relate through the tale of a green, furry, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed creature with a cat-like face, and clinical personality. He carries the theme of hating Christmas and even makes successful attempts to steal all of the children’s presents. Thankfully, toward the end the Grinch witnesses that the holiday is more about family and friends than presents and comes to his senses to return the presents.
This movie is a tradition for many families to watch. A sophomore at Lodi High School, Aameera Goff claims, “One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to sit down with my family and watch the animated Grinch movie as it is a classic holiday movie and it allows a fun movie night with the family,” Of course, there are many popular Christmas movies. Still, The Grinch takes its place as one of the greatest holiday movies of all time and of course a classic.
Another prevalent tradition for kids is an Elf On The Shelf. This tradition brings a tiny elf into your home and it supposedly flies back to the North Pole every night to report your behavior to Santa and then hides in a different spot in their home. When the children wake up they run around trying to find where the elf has hidden. The only restriction to these elves is that if they are touched by human skin, they lose all of their magic. So make sure no one touches it!
Overall, Christmas is one of the best and most well-known holidays no matter how people decide to celebrate it, with songs, movies, feasts, or presents! Make sure to incorporate families and build more relationships with these fantastic traditions!