The chilly air outside doesn’t seem to bother you anymore as you quickly throw off the fluffy blanket that kept you, in your matching Christmas pajama set, warm and cozy. You jump up out of your bed with glee at the fact that it’s all led up to here. All the waiting, all the naughty-or-nice debates, all the winter festivities to save the best for last: Christmas morning. The colorful Christmas tree is glowing under the bright sun, and beneath it a flurry of presents that weren’t there the night before. From the decorated scene to your own overflowing excitement, it’s a time you wish lasted forever.

     For a lot of us, this was the situation only when we were little kids. Since then, staying a kid forever has seemed more and more enticing. It’s the part of your life where you have the most innocence, creative dreams, big imaginations, and absolutely no worries. And when it came to Christmas, these were at an all-time high, especially if you believed in Santa Claus. With that said, of course there’s a much better feeling in experiencing Christmas as a younger child than as an older teen.

     While I still love Christmas very much and it continues to be my favorite holiday, you should realize that it just doesn’t deliver the same feeling as before. We grew up to find out the truth –whether we liked it or not– and started forming higher expectations for gifts. On top of it all, now we have worries on worries as highschool students.

     One person who notices this stark difference is Sophomore Mario Idiarte, who expressed that “When you’re a kid, you don’t have to worry about anything, and that’s exactly how [he] used to feel on Christmas day.” Mario described Christmas as a kid as “magical”, recalling how he’d wake up on the special morning and immediately run to his parents to tell them that Santa had come. During Christmas and the entire winter break, you’re supposed to be just completely relaxed. But at this point, most of us always have an assignment or school event lingering in the back of our minds. When we were little, on the other hand, the only concern we had was ending up on Santa’s naughty list.

     Now don’t get me wrong, it can be difficult comparing the two ages’ Christmas season experiences because of the different events held for each. There’s a matter of going to fun Christmas parties with friends now, and for those with jobs, it can even feel nicer being able to buy gifts with your own paycheck. Still, you could never go wrong with the simplicity of decorating the Christmas tree with family and the exhilaration of ripping open presents.

     For freshman Isabella Cioffi, opening gifts was her favorite part of Christmas when she was little, explaining that it “would make [her] smile so much [her] cheeks start hurting a lot.” Not to mention, getting more presents as a younger kid was more likely to happen as adults wouldn’t want to upset us. Whatever we got, we were happy with because we didn’t have specific expectations or needs.

     While Christmas now may never feel the same as it did before, it’s still a beautiful and fun holiday for those who celebrate it. So for whatever activity you have planned this season, there’s only one important thing to keep in mind: make it a special experience in your own way and have a happy holiday!