No offense to all these "perfect Christmas list for college students" articles, but I don't want even half of what you all are putting down. In fact, I'd be perfectly alright if the only thing I got for Christmas was time with my family. Gifts, while enjoyable, were never important to me growing up. They were fun to open, fun to play with, fun to get. But as a college student, I can't think of a single specific thing that I'm dying to get for Christmas.
What I am is dying to be home.
Christmas isn't Christmas without the people I love. I could have piles and piles of gifts to open up on my own, but I wouldn't be happy. One of the biggest points of the holidays is to spend them with the people you love, not write out the "perfect list" for the things you're dying to have.
That being said, I realized a long time ago that even if you didn't get what you were hoping most to get, you should still be grateful. We shouldn't be commanding our parents or our family or our SOs to buy us material things as if that's the only thing that would make us happy. Fact of the matter is, we're all 18-22 at this point, and we should be pleased by more than a pair of socks or cash in our stocking.
Now we're a week and a half away from Christmas and I already know I'm getting the best gifts ever. Why? Because the only gifts I want this season are to decorate the house, be with my family and spend my first Christmas with my fiance. And I'm getting all of those things (none of which had to be bought).
My parents raised me to believe that gifts weren't the most important thing — and I honestly couldn't even tell you how. Somewhere along the line I just learned and it became a regular thing. I was grateful for the gifts I hated and was fine if I got less than the year before.
I live and breathe the holiday season, purely for the cheer and love and laughter. I couldn't care less about the presents under the tree in the morning. I love the ambiance from the lights and the smell of pine-scented candles, the warm blankets and the fresh cocoa.
Holidays are more about the feelings than they are about the gifts — and as adults, we should treat them as such. After all, I have every intention of raising my children in a way that; if they didn't receive a gift from someone on Christmas, they'd still be grateful for having them around.
