Collene Bandoo | On 13, Dec 2015

I’m starving, exhausted and highly aggravated. I do not know what color would look better on a Christmas tree nor do I know the difference between beige and cream. The only thing I can think about is if I will ever make it out of this store alive. I find myself in this position way too much around Christmas time. My mother buys all new decorations every year and really goes all out. Christmas is my favorite time of the year but I feel like there is too much pressure put on everyone. People stress themselves out over buying presents, decorating their homes, and spend so much money on materialistic things. I fear that Christmas has lost its real meaning. Instead of showing love, people are trying to buy it.

Buying presents for your friends and family can be the hardest task. You would think because they are the people you know best that it would be easy. Since you know them the best you should know what they like! Sadly, it’s never that easy. You don’t want to get someone a gift that they wouldn’t use or they wouldn’t like or even something that they already have. Someone like myself who can’t even decide what to eat for lunch will definitely be stressed out when she can’t decide what to buy for their her ones. For me, buying gifts is like trying to do a math problem: I can never find a solution.

If you ever have trouble finding my house, it’s the one with the most Christmas lights and decorations outside. Yes, we are that family. I am not exaggerating; my family starts buying Christmas decorations at least three months in advance. Around Christmas, everyone in my family chooses a weekend and invites everyone over because we can’t go to everyone’s house on Christmas since there’s so many of us. This is literally like a competition between my family members. It’s all about who has the best food, decorations, and who gives the best gifts. Everyone wants to be the best host.

People spend so much money around Christmas time. People feel pressured to buy each other expensive gifts to show their love. I think that out of the whole year this is the time that my parents argue the most. Most of the arguments are about money. Christmas has become something that people only look forward to because of materialistic things.

We turned a holiday that was about showing love and celebrating with your loved ones to a competition to see who can spend the most money. People are ripping their hair out of their heads to try and buy each other expensive gifts, fighting in stores over decorations and just going broke to impress everyone. I understand that Christmas isn’t like this for everyone but I feel that most people will agree that Christmas has lost its real meaning.