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The 16 Stages Of Christmas As Told With Uncanny Accuracy By 'The Polar Express'

"All aboard!"

Kelsey Thomas

Nov 19, 2018

James Madison

155

The 16 Stages Of Christmas As Told With Uncanny Accuracy By 'The Polar Express'

Warner Bros. Pictures

1. November 1: The excitement begins.

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Once October ends, it feels like Christmas is right around the corner. Although Thanksgiving is sandwiched in between Halloween and Christmas, it seems to tie in with the Christmas spirit. So, comes November 1st comes all the excitement.

2. Planning to transform your house into a winter wonderland.

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Once you're in the holiday spirit, you can't help but picture your household covered in winter decor. You get down your boxes of Christmas townhouses and lights then leave it lying around until you build up the motivation to actually decorate the house.

3. Starting to listen to Christmas music as early as you can.

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I'm sorry, did you say that Christmas music is on the radio? Sorry, turn that song off and play "Wizards in Winter" performed by the Tran Siberian Orchestra, please.

4. SALES! SALES! SALES! Black Friday shopping, you go.

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Once Thanksgiving passes and Black Friday sales have finally started, it's time to brace the crowds and fight for presents for your loved ones. Or, if you're anything like me, you'll go with the mindset of buying things for others and come home with a bunch of presents for yourself instead.

5. The Christmas movie marathons begin, which means it's time to cancel all plans and stay in all day every day to watch.

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Is the acting bad and is the main character going to fall in love with the townie over the New York CEO? Yes. Am I going to tune into the Hallmark channel and watch every single one? Absolutely.

6. Realizing you haven't started decorating the house yet.

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You stare at the empty, Christmas-less walls of your home after watching all of the holiday films and become disappointed in yourself for not following through with your decoration plans.

7. Ordering as many of the holiday drinks at Starbucks as you can.

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Peppermint Mocha, Chestnut Praline, or Eggnog? You have to just try them all.

8. Spending all day in the kitchen making Christmas cookies.

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If you're anything like me, it's going to take you a few batches to actually get it right and not burn it. But, once you've perfected the art of cookie baking, your counter-tops will be full of oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and Christmas' favorite, sugar cookies.

9. Life is moving so fast, you realize Christmas is WAY closer than you thought.

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Wait... wasn't yesterday November 1st?

10. Finally starting to decorate your house now that it's a week before Christmas.

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You finally find the motivation to put the Christmas spirit on your walls now that Christmas is only a week away. But hey, it's better now than never, right?

11. Wrapping gifts at the last minute, just to realize you suck at wrapping.

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I think it's safe to say that after wrapping two gifts, the rest of them are going to be shoved in bags.

12. Christmas Eve: Reminding all the children that Santa is coming.

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Nothing puts a kid on their best behavior than telling them that Santa is coming to visit. As the holiday has finally arrived and the prepping has come to an end, you might as well continue on with the Christmas fun.

13. Christmas Day: gifts, food, and most importantly, family.

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Christmas day finally arrives and you spend it surrounded by family. You watch the ones you love smile as they open the gifts you got for them and stuff yourself with holiday feasts.

14. Denial of the fact that Christmas has already come and gone.

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You have to go back to work and reminisce on the good 'ole yesterday where you were able to relax and enjoy the holiday. You can't believe that it's actually over and try to relive every moment by keeping all your Christmas gifts in the living room as if you haven't opened them yet.

15. February 1: Realizing it's probably time to take down the Christmas decorations.

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I guess it's safe to say that an entire month after Christmas is a safe time to finally stop celebrating it. Although sad, you take down your winter wonderland and start preparing for the next holiday.

16. The next Christmas countdown begins.

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But in reality, what other holiday is as good as Christmas? The moment you finally stop celebrating, you start counting down the days until the next Christmas season.

With all the famous scenes from "The Polar Express," there's no way it couldn't depict the various stages you go through when it comes to Christmas. From the preparing, the experiencing, and the reminiscing, Christmas seems to last all year. So, if you haven't gotten in the holiday spirit yet, you better climb on board.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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The 16 Stages Of Christmas As Told With Uncanny Accuracy By 'The Polar Express'​

"All aboard!"

In This Article:

1. November 1: The excitement begins.

2. Planning to transform your house into a winter wonderland.

3. Starting to listen to Christmas music as early as you can.

4. SALES! SALES! SALES! Black Friday shopping, you go.

5. The Christmas movie marathons begin, which means it's time to cancel all plans and stay in all day every day to watch.

6. Realizing you haven't started decorating the house yet.

7. Ordering as many of the holiday drinks at Starbucks as you can.

8. Spending all day in the kitchen making Christmas cookies.

9. Life is moving so fast, you realize Christmas is WAY closer than you thought.

10. Finally starting to decorate your house now that it's a week before Christmas.

11. Wrapping gifts at the last minute, just to realize you suck at wrapping.

12. Christmas Eve: Reminding all the children that Santa is coming.

13. Christmas Day: gifts, food, and most importantly, family.

14. Denial of the fact that Christmas has already come and gone.

15. February 1: Realizing it's probably time to take down the Christmas decorations.

16. The next Christmas countdown begins.

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No matter how old you are.

1. Build a snowman

2. Start a snowball fight

3. Build a fort

4. Binge-watch Netflix

4. Look out the window

5. Grab coffee with a friend

6. Complete school or office work

7. Sleep

8. Read a book

9. Bake cookies

10. Drink hot cocoa

11. Go ice skating

12. Take a Walk

"I don't want to do things. I want to not do things."

1. When you look at the syllabus and realize there are only three weeks of the semester left; even though the first day was LITERALLY yesterday.

2. You look at your grades and realize they probably aren't as high as they should be, which is a terrifying realization.

3. When you think to yourself at night, "tomorrow, I will wake up early and go to the library ALL day, and, hell, maybe after I'll go to the gym for a little bit, just to push myself that extra mile."

4. Tomorrow actually comes. The inevitable and overpowering sense of procrastination is too strong to overcome.

5. But you DO end up going to the library. Not all day though, but still, a while. But no, you do not go to the gym. Still, you made an effort, so you decide to treat yo' self.

6. When you realize you need to schedule a meeting with your adviser because you need to sign up for classes next semester. But you also realize that since you waited until the last minute, you're going to get stuck with all of the crappy classes.

7. When you low-key try to slip into conversation with your professors that you need extra credit because you're that desperate.

8. When it's already the third time you've seen your adviser in two days because you have no damn clue what you're doing and need all the help you can get.

9. When you apply for a job associated with your major even though you have no experience, but you just want to dive headfirst into the deep end of adulthood and get it over with.

The world is not always sunshine and rainbows, and you do not have to be, either.

It would be so much easier to just pay someone to do it for you

1. Figuring out when to start

2. Searching through list after list to get everything you need

3. Shopping for deals

4. Getting bins to put everything in

5. Figuring what you can’t live without

6. Going through clothes to find what you need

7. Finding out your siblings took something from you

8. Fighting with your parents.

9. Trying to plan things with your roommate

10. The fear of forgetting something

11. Move in day

Relatable moments from one of the best shows I have ever watched.

1. When you fail that midterm you studied so hard for.

2. When your crush finally texts back.

3. When payday comes around.

4. When you accidentally like someone's picture from 108 weeks ago.

5. When someone takes your unassigned assigned seat.

6. When your favorite character in your favorite TV series dies.

7. When that guy/girl you’ve been crushing on agrees to go on a date with you.

8. When you have so much to do, and such little motivation to do it.

9. When someone asks for your last fry.

10. When you try a new health-food craze.

11. When you get new clothing.

12. When you check your bank account.

13. When they're serving good food in the dining hall.

14. When someone tries to tell you what to do.

15. Or just your thoughts about life in general.

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