There are so many exciting things about Christmas. Like, decorating the house, singing carols around the fire, drinking hot cocoa and watching old classic Christmas specials with the entire family, rushing down the stairs early in the morning to see presents galore stacked as tall as you around the tree, and of course opening those presents, hoping that one of them is that super cool toy you have been eyeing down all year long.
At least that is how it is for children. Christmas for adults is a bit different. It is still exciting because, well, it is Christmas, and Christmas is the greatest day of the whole entire year. There is still something cozy and special about this time of year, when the snow FINALLY starts to fall, the fire place is burning, and friends and family are abundant.
But as we grow older, and lose that Christmas magic feeling, we start to appreciate the holiday for different reasons, kind of sad, and very grown up reasons.
One present we all hated as kids were socks, because why in the world would socks ever be considered a present? We had a billion in our room already, why is putting a fuzzy pair in our stockings considered a gift. But as an adult, socks is one of the greatest gifts you can receive. Once you hit a certain age or maturity, you get excited when you pick up a present to find inside the messy wrapping paper the most perfect, fluffy, cozy and warm looking pair of socks you have ever seen. And it is more than likely that later that day, you sneak away from the conversation in the kitchen to go slip those perfect socks on your freezing feet. And that right there is one of the best moments on Christmas day.
We don't have huge awesome toys to look forward to anymore, so socks will have to do. We also find a new appreciation for gift cards, finally we can get a present for ourselves that we will actually enjoy.
But we still like our fun too, you gotta feed the inner child inside of us all, and that is why simple throwback games and toys are perfect for us. Old card games that we used to play as children, dart guns, a knee hockey set, these simply toys that kids now-a-days would be over in a second, we spend the rest of the day playing with, bringing us back to our childhood.
Christmas isn't only about the gifts. For one day a year, everyone has the same day off, and on that day you get to actually hang out with your family, the people you love, the people you have spent every Christmas with since the beginning of your life. It is the one day that everyone, well most everyone, is together again, and that actually starts to mean something to you as you grow older and watch life unfold before your eyes. You begin to appreciate your relatives you used to hide from, and the weird conversations that you know only your family could possibly be having on Christmas day.
Not only do you start to appreciate the people, but the traditions. The weird things your family did every year, that you would roll your eyes at, beg to not go because your new toys need playing with now, but suddenly, as a grown up, these traditions become something you look forward to. Something that you hope to keep in your own family when you start one.
We grow up and suddenly Christmas is no longer about the presents. It is about the memories, the people, being with your family, bring old traditions alive again. It becomes less of a material day and more of a day that you finally get to spend with your entire family. Sure, the presents are nice too, because who doesn't want a new pair of fuzzy socks? But now it becomes so much more than that.
