When you were a kid, December was positively magical. Your roof was dusted with snow; Santa was on the move, your parents discreetly carried in Target bags bursting with presents while you pretended not to notice. On Christmas Eve, you desperately tried to fall asleep so Kris Kringle could shimmy down the chimney; on the first night of Hanukah you were bursting with excitement as the first candle in the menorah was lighted. The entire holiday season was filled with a mystical, warm joy that you looked forward to every year.
Nowadays, as a jaded high school kid, holidays just don’t have the same kind of magic. You’ve been so busy that October and November have passed quickly enough that you didn’t properly get spooky and/or thankful. You saw through Santa’s guise by catching Mom snack on the sacred milk and cookies when you were about nine. In the past few years, the season of holiday cheer has lacked its charms.
December is quickly approaching, guys. Even though the holiday season has lost some of its thrills with age, we have to do everything we can to preserve its undeniably innate magic.
Here, dearest readers, is how:
Take advantage of every merry activity! Even if you have to seek out the magic of the holidays, in the end, finding that enchanted feeling is key. Make it your personal seasonal mission to be the merriest kid on the block. Throw a Christmas party. Watch ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas. Going caroling can actually be super intimidating, so randomly show up at your friends’ houses and serenade them with cheer until they disown you, in a cute way. Hit up recipe websites and print out recipes for the most ironic and iconic holiday dishes and show up at your grandma’s door, ready to GO.
Or you could find holiday magic by looking through a kid’s eyes. Take your six-year-old cousin to Snowflake Lane and watch them freak out over snow princesses. Try giving strictly homemade presents this year to add a personal, charmed touch to gift giving.
However you find that December magic, the key to achieving a childlike holiday cheer as a cynical teenager is to seek out that merry feeling in any way you can. I wish you the best of luck in finding your merry Christmas, your happy Hannukah, and your jolly New Year.