Do you remember running down the stairs early on Christmas morning, overjoyed because Santa Claus came? Do you remember skipping merrily door to door, searching for the biggest candy bars on Halloween? These moments were some of my favorites when I was growing up, but as I have gotten older they just don't seem the same anymore. By the time you get into your mid to late teens, celebrating Halloween, Christmas and other holidays is not as fun and exciting as it was when you were younger. Here are three ways that the holidays change as you get older;
1. People tell you that you are too old to participate.
By the time you hit a certain age, trick-or-treating, sitting on Santa's lap, easter egg hunting and drawing hand-shaped turkeys are just not socially acceptable for you to do anymore. I can't tell you how many people I have heard say "Aren't you too old to be doing that?" The two last times I went trick-or-treating, I was 14 or 15 years old. When I would walk up to people's houses to collect candy, many would ask "How old are you?" and then remind me that I was apparently getting "too big." With Halloween being my favorite holiday, it was hard to give up celebrating it. While I rocked awesome costumes in school the last two years, that seemed to be the most I did to show my love for Halloween. Christmas is also a time of year that makes wish I was a little kid again. Every year my town has an elaborate celebration during most of December. Santa Claus lands on the top of Century 21 department store and comes down on a fire truck to meet the children of Morristown. I use watch in amazement and wait impatiently for my turn to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas. Now, I look enviously at both of my little sister's photos with the most magical figure of most people's childhood. It is unfortunate, though, that before they know it, they too will told that they are "too old."
2. You realize everything your parents actually did.
The amount of effort parents put into making the holidays fun and exciting for their children is pretty admirable. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny may have gotten all the credit over the years but parents were always the ones working behind the scenes and made everything happen. Parents give up precious hours of sleep to wrap presents, put together Easter baskets, cook, clean and so much more. They also have to put aside time and money just to go to the store to buy presents.They even have to think about places where you would never find them. Many children are oblivious to the effort their mom and dad put into making the holidays special and will shamefully throw temper tantrums if they didn't get exactly what they wanted. When you get older you see how hard your parents tried and begin to appreciate everything so much more. Parents often give as much as they can give to their children and someday you will be doing all of the same for your own kids. Your enjoyment during the holidays will no longer come from being given presents or believing in magical animals and people, but from seeing your family be happy. During this holiday season, thank your parents and do something special for them. They deserve it.
3. You begin to understand the value of many things.
When you are little, you often have no concept of money. When you get your first job, you start to understand the true value of a dollar and how much hard work it takes to make good money. Therefore, you begin to appreciate every gift you receive, even if you don’t like it. It really becomes more important that they tried to get to you something in the first place. You may have felt bad when your friends bragged about the never ending list of gifts they received when you were younger, but it was most likely that there were people that would have given anything to get what you got too. As you begin to notice the terrible things that happen in the world and in your community, you appreciate everything so much more and think about things you never thought about before, especially around the holidays. It often makes you feel guilty when you see all of the food you waste on Thanksgiving or think about the children that didn’t wake up to presents under the tree like you did. Many kids don’t think about this as much as adults do and it definitely makes the holidays bittersweet.
