The holiday season brings families gatherings, children’s joy, and… Christmas lists so specific that it’s a PowerPoint?
More and more teens have been posting their Christmas lists to social media and it has started quite a frenzy. It’s garnered mixed reactions as some of the lists are fully decorated presentations filled with links, pricing, and categories of who’s buying what.
Obviously, gift-giving has no age restriction, but gift-asking –with a list that doesn’t include what you did to be good this year– is probably not going to earn you any brownie points. Sure, it’s funny to make a crazy specific list in hopes of getting one or two things ironically, but the kids who do this seem to be dead set on knowing exactly what’s wrapped under the tree.
We interviewed two girls on opposing sides to get to the bottom of this debate. Robin Bleekmolen stopped making Christmas lists when she was 12, while Gabby Trupelli has hers out by the beginning of December.
“A lot of people are surprised because they don’t trust their parents to get them the right Christmas gifts,” says Robin about reactions to her nonexistent Xmas list.
Robin thinks it’s “time-consuming” to pick out specific items and she’s right, but consider the average American who spends 15 hours shopping for gifts. Making a list for them will surely shed much of that time off.
Gift-giving can be more personal when someone makes a list because it adds individuality.
“Around my sophomore year of high school; once I started getting my own taste in things, I started to kinda not like what my parents picked out for me,” says Gabby. People’s tastes change. And it is a foolproof way to make sure the recipient is appreciative.
Gaby’s also making sure she soaks in the time she has left enjoying the fleeting tradition. Once she lives on her own, “It’s not gonna be like… Christmas morning…It’ll be like I go for the day,” and the lists will be over.
Just know that by the time your parents’ insurance doesn’t cover you, there should be no PowerPoint presentations.
