It’s Christmas time, and you know what that means. Everyone’s decorations go up and the stores fill with people fighting over everything in sight, and although the holidays are supposed to be a time of relaxation and leisure, there can be a lot of stress surrounding this time. Things like buying presents or planning family gatherings can add up and make the holidays a time that people say they’re just “trying to get through”.
No matter how much stress someone has, another huge part of Christmas is spending time with family, and the traditions that carry on throughout the years. Whether it be putting up a Christmas tree or putting together a gingerbread house, it’s a time for families to bond, and spend time together.
The holidays can definitely be stressful if a family is not on the best of terms with each other. Abigail Leonard, ‘21, says that “my parents split up when I was little. Every year my brother and I switch off with one parent. So one Christmas we will spend with my mom and the next Christmas we will spend with my dad. I have a little sister, with my dad, so we just tell her Christmas is whenever me and my brother are there.”
No matter how crazy the holidays can be, Leonard and her family still take the time do things together and have a good time. “A few days before Christmas I bake cookies with my mom and her friends and their daughters, and then we sing Christmas carols together.
Teachers also need a break from school, and time to spend with families of their own. Mr.Eastman, the wood shop teacher here at Redwood, says that “When I was little we would go to grandmas house and we always got to open one gift on Christmas eve. My family went from doing that tradition to the big family gathering we have now on Christmas eve. The family gathering on Christmas day stayed the same.”
Family traditions can create some great memories between people. For us, going on winter break should not be used as a time to just sleep in and get cool gifts, but to make the time to make memories with our families and even maybe make new traditions.
Madison Navarrette
Tags: break, christmas, Christmas traditons, family time, gobigblue, holiday, holidaycheer, holidays, journalism, new memories, opinion, redwood high school, redwoodgigantea, redwoodrangers, traditions, winter break
