Soon we will be jumping into the year 2019 all brand new. But these Holidays still haven’t passed for us to start thinking of the new year. Although being in the 21st century, we all have come to grow a lot from when people use to live in a world with no technology and no vehicles to get to the store to get that shopping done. Now millennials have grown so much to where they believe they need to get stressed about buying presents. Do kids really need to be stressing over what gift is perfect for their family and friends?

Freshman Caedan Jinks feels joyful and happy about the Holiday season that’s around the corner and is not stressed at all about what is to come. Jinks personality only spends around $100 on gifts for his family and close friends.

“[During the holidays] I feel like I need to buy gifts because it shows that I appreciate my family and my friends,” Jinks said.

One of the things that seem to give Jinks that joyful and happy feeling inside is the tradition that he and his family do every year which helps solidify the meaning of the holidays for him.

“Every year no matter what, I go to my grandma’s house on Christmas Eve, and I go to my aunt’s house on Christmas Day,” Jinks said. “[I believe that the] Holidays are a time for [a] family to come together and spend time together.

Jinks is not the only freshman that seems to not be stressing about buying the right gifts for the people he cares about. Freshman Emily Carrasco is only showing stress about finals and not about shopping for presents. She personally only spends $50 on presents for her loved ones. She prefers to start shopping earlier so that it’s not so chaotic when buying the perfect gifts for her friends and family. But she believes she knows why some kids would get stressed about the holidays.

“Overall I think that it’s just buying gifts and making sure that they give [presents] to everyone and that they are good [gifts],” Carrasco said. “It [also] shows appreciation for your friends, and it shows that you know them and care about them. Overall I think it’s really good [because] it’s the season of giving.

A tradition that seems to keep the stress away from Carrasco is being with her family during the holiday season.

“During the holidays, we usually go and we drive up to my uncle and aunt’s house and we spend Christmas with them,” Carrasco said.

Another freshman named Zach Ortlieb is happy around the holidays and isn’t letting any stress ruin the huge amount of fun he is having/going to have. He personally spends about $150 on gifts for a bunch of his friends and family. And even though the holidays aren’t going to ruin Ortliebs spirt, there still are annoying things about getting gifts.

“Knowing what [people] like is the most difficult part, and sometimes it’s just difficult for some people to buy gifts in general,” Ortlieb said.

On the other hand, there are still freshman who do get stressed about the holidays and the pressure of picking out the right gifts. Even though there is that little bit of stress in the holiday air, that won’t get rid of the happiness that freshman Mia Glassgow feels for the holidays. Glassgow normally spends around $50 for her friends and family.

“I think having to do so much work [during the holidays] and just the stress of buying [gifts] and getting things ready [is stressful],” Glassgow said.

Freshmen are not the only ones that are involved with the holiday stress. But it seems that the holiday stress won’t be affecting senior Haley Pleva. She normally buys presents for her family and friends, and her holiday spirit isn’t going anywhere.

“I love the holidays, and I love not having school,” Pleva said. “I don’t necessarily feel stressed. I actually love [the holidays because] there’s no work to be done. You can be lazy [and] watch a lot of Netflix, so I love the holidays. [Also] trying to find a balance between something they really want and something that’s not completely out of the price range [is good].”

The start of some of the holiday stress for kids about buying gifts can be explained by many reasons from different types of people.

“I think it’s sometimes just the pressure that if there’s somebody your really close to, somebody you like or someone that means a lot to you [it] feels like you have to repay them in some way for [the things] they’ve done,” Pleva said.

Many people have different views on what the holidays are really about and what meaning it brings to peoples hearts for Pleva, it’s all about family.

“I think it’s honestly about just spending time with the people you love and care about and it’s [should be] stress-free and having fun, spending time with your family and relaxing,” Pleva said.

In general, adults are the main ones that are affected by holiday stress but Warehouse Manager and parent Brandon Engel have been happy or content about the holidays and all of the shopping it brings. Overall Engel spends from $700 to $1000 on presents for his immediate family like his children, his girlfriend, and his family.

“[The holiday season is] just the one time of the year where [I] don’t feel stressed,” Engel said, “ I only get stressed out with work, I don’t get stressed out with things I like doing and the holidays is stuff I like doing, buying gifts for people I love.”

Out of the many different reasons of how the holidays put Engel into a happy and jolly mood, another one of those could be a tradition that he and his family do every holiday season.

“We always get together on Christmas Eve [and] have a big family party, [and] play cards and then open gifts on Christmas morning,” Engel said.

Although other adults like Customer Service Representative and parent Neli Molina do think the holidays are stressful. She spends about $100 or less on gifts for her loved ones. Molina gives another good example of why kids have the stress about getting gifts.

“Maybe they see other family members giving gifts and [so then] they want to partake in the giving of the gifts and [so that they can] feel more mature,” Molina said, “But kids shouldn’t [feel that they] need to buy gifts especially if [they] don’t have a job. I started buying gifts when I got a job, [it was easier] because I didn’t have bills to pay and people didn’t expect to get lavish gifts because [I] was a kid.”

Molina has her own voiced opinions on what the holidays mean to her and how others might view the holidays.

“How I see people see it is really about the gifts because that’s what the media has made it [about], all the [products] then come out, [and then] everybody wants something,” Molina said, “But what I really feel that Christmas should be about [is] family and being with the people you love.”

The holidays to most regular people are about being with the people that you trust and love with your life. Kids shouldn’t be getting stressed about getting the right presents, but to most kids, they believe that getting presents for the people that they trust and love with their life is showing the true meaning of Christmas. So is there really any holiday stress in the air?

“The holidays are really about showing people that you care about them and that your like grateful for each other and [it just] really brings each other closer,” Carrasco said.  

Caption: Ellie Bodach, Emily Carrasco, and Ciara Belfiore are giving each other presents for the holiday season in the lunchroom. All three of the girls don’t seem to be stress at all and have jolly smiles on their faces.