For Italians, Christmas is easily everyone’s favorite holiday. It’s basically Thanksgiving on a whole new level— with endless amounts of laughter, helpings, and wine.

Every culture has their own way of celebrating Christmas, but it’s safe to say Italians high-key do it better.

It might be loud, it might be full of motion, but we solemnly swear that we are going to have fun while simultaneously eating a nonsensical amount of calories. For better or for worse, we will have no regrets.

Here are 13 reasons why American-Italian's go through post Christmas Eve depression:

1. Is it time yet? The anticipation for Christmas Eve is unlike any other holiday, except for Christmas Day of course. There's tons of things to look forward too and the hours slowly pass on the clock until it's time to be with the family. And now this amazing anticipation is due for another 364 days away.

2. THE PRE-GAME. Don't be fooled, once the family is finally united, the pre-game is no joke. It's not the stereotype alcoholic pre-game (well, not entirely) it's all about the appetizers. Please bring me back the antipasto, bruschetta, clams oreganata, and the focaccia. It's just completely and utterly majestic and fabulous.

3. So... Much... Fish... Italians are known for eating fish on Christmas Eve. For all you Medigans, the Feast of Seven Fishes aka Festa dei Setta Pesci, came about because Catholic Italians viewed Christmas Eve as a fasting night. With that being said, they would consume some frutti di mare instead of meat because that's tomorrow. This ranges from clams, to mussels, baccalá, and calamari... You name it. The number of fishes vary amongst families, but seven is most popularized. For my family, it represents the amount of times the number "7" is repeated in the bible, as well as the Seven Hills of Rome. Red Lobster won't do us justice until next year....

4. Never-Ending Pasta... Forget that Olive Garden sh*t. We eat pasta with everything. It's practically its own food group for us. On Christmas Eve, it is eaten between and with each course. We have puttanesca, cioppino, agnolotti, ravioli, spaghetti, and so much more. Everything is strategically made to best capture the consistency and flavor. No amount of parmesan is ever too much to sprinkle on, either. It's incredible. The ONLY positive thing is we have an entire year to burn off what we gained, and have time to burn off some more for next year. We clearly just want to eat more... Do you blame us?

5. Vino, vino, and some more vino. We love our wines. If your family is legit, it's going to be homemade wine. Every year my family makes barrels of wine, and we somehow manage to drink it all. It's probable you even had your first few sips of wine at a young age, and there's nothing wrong with it because we're Italian. It's our culture so all opinions on the matter are invalid because that's how each generation has been raised. Thank goodness we have access to wine all year round.. It's just a perk seeing that one relative completely wasted.

6. Loudness: The is zero volume control in a household filled with Italians. If you've ever questioned "how" when it come to being related to your loved ones, it's okay. It's definitely crossed each and every one of our minds. Indoor voices are just not a thing. We also cannot talk without some sort of body part moving. But no worries, we aren't fighting. If we were, you'd probably run for your life at that point. Luckily, we have some time for our ear drums to recover... Much needed recovery, that is.

7. Dessert: If you think there's an insane amount of food, just imagine what it's like when it comes to desserts. There's Nonna's sensational cookies, sfogliatelle, cannoli, panettone, ricciarelli, tiramisú, and our famous ricotta cookies. Everything is homemade and each recipe is passed down from generations. Some of these treats are only made for the holidays and it totally sucks because it's just SO good.

8. Figuring out the "plus one" thing: This goes for all the young singles. But it's so true because if roles were reversed, meeting our family is a lot to soak in. If they're Italian, how perfect. If they are not Italian, it's totally okay. However there's a lot to teach our "plus one" before bringing them over because if we're choosing to introduce them to everyone, that means we have something serious. Some have no shame in bringing in their new boo thang but for some, like myself, we choose wisely. Oh, and in your spare time please learn how to dance the Tarantella because it will only make my family love you more, and now there is no excuse because you have an entire year to master it.

9. Did I mention booze? Considering how intoxicated some family members were, we got some time to figure out if we should (or shouldn't) cut them off.



10. Presents. You get to practice your skills on unwrapping. It's a complete tease for Christmas morning, but who would ever say no to presents? Or those random five dollars your Nonno gives you? Receiving is no where near as awesome as giving, but no ones complaining, other than waiting forever to do this again.

11. Food Coma Chronicles: The non stop eating and several helpings eventually will catch up. It might seem like you doubled your weight or maybe even tripled. The first night it's an odd feeling. You get so full but then simply continue eating. Then it's time to empty that fridge with all the left-overs.. So it doesn't really end, now does it? Unfortunately your fridge won't be this packed with the best food for a long time.

12. Goodbye's suck. Not only does saying goodbye stink because you won't seen everyone present tonight until the next holiday... but there's just so many people to say goodbye to in general as a whole. Hugs and kisses all around. Prepare 20 minutes you will never get back. But they're your family and you rather do this more often than not.

13. Catching those zzz's: Somehow in the midst of everything, falling asleep is the hardest, once you get home or all the relatives leave. It's also even more difficult to get back on track with your normal sleeping routine. But regardless how much you love sleep you can't wait for the next 365 days to pass.

Buon Natale a tutti, e a tutte una buona notte!
(Al prossimo anno)