December has finally arrived. The time when listening to Christmas music is socially acceptable, Christmas movies start playing on TV and my favorite holiday month begins.
Yes, my favorite holiday is Christmas.
But it’s not all about the presents (though they are pretty neat). What I really love about this season [warning: extreme cheesiness/cliché] is the Christmas Spirit.
You know when it starts getting really cold and the air smells like snow? If I could stand outside smelling that for hours without being in danger of losing my exposed skin to frostbite, I would.
My mother and I will go out of our way to drive by the houses with the prettiest Christmas lights on our way home and as soon as my sister and I get out of school for Winter Break (I’ll come back to my opinion on that name later) we start our annual, nightly drives around town to look at lights.
I begin listening to Christmas music the first of November and usually don’t stop until sometime in mid-January. Yes. I am aware of how insane that sounds, but I can’t help it—I am insane.
One of my friends thinks that all things Christmas should be taboo until the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I know others are the same way, but I disagree. She says that by putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving is sinful because you’re basically snubbing Thanksgiving. I say that Thanksgiving is not that great of a holiday in the first place because I mean just think, the two things that Thanksgiving advocates are gluttony and laziness. What do most typical American families do to celebrate on the third Thursday of November? They eat too much food and watch football.
Christmas deserves more attention because it is the more meaningful holiday. I mean when you think about the actual history behind Thanksgiving you come to the realization that it wasn’t really as wonderful as your Elementary teachers made it out to be… See, the Indians did not openly welcome the Pilgrims and just start teaching them how to farm because they were not successful farmers in the new land. Truth is, the Pilgrims weren’t successful because they were lazy. Most of them didn’t even try to farm; they preferred to steal the Indians’ crops. Eventually the Indians and Pilgrims did share a meal, but that didn’t change the Pilgrims’ view of the Indians. The Pilgrims still thought that they were superior to the Indians and the relationship between the two groups did not really improve because of this dinner.
You know what else? They didn’t even eat Turkey at the original dinner—just another thing that adults lie to kids about.
The worst part is that most people don’t even know that they’re not telling kids the real story and the ones who don’t choose not to tell the kids because they don’t think it makes a very good story/lesson.
At least Santa was invented to bring joy to children; Thanksgiving has never exactly filled me with hope and glee.
Anyway, I guess what I’m really trying to say is that the Christmas season isn’t long enough, but I understand why it has to be this way. I mean if everyone celebrated Christmas for three straight months like I do, then it wouldn’t be nearly as meaningful and special.
As much I anticipate the arrival of December 25th, I’m almost sad when it comes because it means that the magic of the season is almost over…
Fun Fact: Jesus Christ was actually born sometime in July; we celebrate his birthday on December 25th because Christians needed a holiday to replace an old Pagan one at the same time.
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