As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to realize just how stressful the Holidays are. Usually when Christmas comes around, my younger siblings are filled with excitement and my parents and I are filled with dread. I know, as well as my parents know, that even though Christmas is suppose to be all about family, people are still expected to buy gifts for one another.

This year was no different from the previous; I woke up, opened my presents, and I was admittedly disappointed. My parents tried to get me what I had asked for, I give them that, but the gifts that they got just weren’t what I like. I found myself thinking about it all day and feeling guilty. My siblings were happy with what they got, and honestly it wasn’t much.

As I was thinking and I realized that I’ve been disappointed the past few Holidays because of the gifts. I started to associate the quality and amount of gifts I get with how good a Holiday was at the end of the day. Apart of this belief likely stems from the countless amount of advertisements that talk about gift giving during the Holidays.

These advertisements condition us to believe that the only way to be happy during Christmas is by getting gifts. Slogans like “make your family happy this year,” or “buy your kids the perfect gift” make some feel guilty. My family cannot afford much, and I know for sure that these make my parents feel guilty that they’re not able to get a lot of gifts for my siblings and I.

Advertisements should instead show more of families together and less of the gifts. Christmas, and any other Holiday, should be centered around spending time with family, not food or gifts. It’s understandable that these companies are just trying to capitalize off of the Holidays, but I’m sure they can find other ways to advertise. Hopefully more people come to realize the importance of spending time with family, and ignore the advertisements.