Types Of People On Christmas- Meghan Smith

Types of People on Christmas- Meghan Smith

          Most of us celebrate Christmas, and if you don't you most likely know somebody who does. It's a season of love, giving, receiving, and being grateful for all the blessings in your life. Christmas is different every year, but there are always traditions, as traditions, there are people. After many years of Christmas mornings, I've placed my family members including myself into the following categories; The Early Riser, The Trash Dad, Self Gifter, Giving God, and "I Was Supposed to Ask For Something?".

            The Early Rister (aka my sister) is the person who will get up at 5 am, no matter what their sleep schedule looks like, what time they went to bed the night before, or how well they slept. Nothing matters to them because they'll always be up at 5 am, knocking on your door, screaming that it's Christmas morning. Then they'll go wake up the rest of the house, who would like to sleep for at least 3-4 more hours. This person is usually on the younger side, and their easily excitable tendencies fade as they get older. Sometimes. Maybe they learn to control their excitement and sleep longer, or they discover the joys of watching "A Christmas Story" on loop until the rest of the house wakes up. The Early Riser tends to rip open their presents at supersonic speed as well, but only after making sure that everyone is watching. But without the antics of the Early Riser, Christmas morning might turn into Christmas afternoon, so they really are a necessary part of the Christmas morning escapade. 

            Next, we have the Trash Dad (aka my father). This one is very self-explanatory. The Trash Dad is the person who is always yelling after a present is opened. Choruses of "Wrapping Paper to me! Don't throw out that bag, we'll reuse it! All bubble wrap goes into the bag!" can be heard at ungodly hours of the morning. This person doesn't necessarily have to be a dad, but they are definitely the head of the house and the person who has deemed themselves "In Charge of Christmas." The Trash Dad may be overbearing and annoying but without them, the tree-area would stay a mess for weeks because nobody else would have the motivation to clean it.

            The Self Gifter (aka my mom) is somebody that we all know and love??? The jury is still out on that second one. This person is usually on the older side, and when asked what they want for Christmas, they'll just ask for something small like a new pair of earrings or some warm socks. Why they do this? Because they have already bought themselves a 3 day 2 night trip to the Bahamas over spring break and don't need your lousy gifts. They always act so shocked on Christmas morning to see exactly what they wanted under the tree, even though they put it there 12 hours prior. The Self Gifter may do this for a variety of reasons, whether they don't trust their family members to buy things they actually want, or they just want to treat themselves for putting up with the rest of the family for another year. We don't know. But you can always count on the Self Gifter to have some random, over extravagant gift sitting under the tree with their name on it year after year.

            The Giftgiving God (aka my brother), as I like to call them, give the best gifts, year after year, without fail. Each year, you know something good is going to be waiting under the tree for you if the Gift-giving God is sitting next to you. They usually buy you exactly what you wanted, no matter the cost. Why? Because they asked you on Christmas eve and may have even taken you to get the gift with them so they could get just the right thing. There is really only one downside to this person. They can be lazy. This means you may have to wrap your own gift while they laugh at you for getting a paper cut on the wrapping paper. Then they like to brag about how they "Won Christmas" the next day. However, The Giftgiving God, doesn't really like receiving their own pile of presents, because they'd rather receive 1 or 2 things that they actually need than 7 gifts of what they might want. They'll brag about being the best and then make the family breakfast, then leave for the rest of the day. The Giftgiving God is random, but you can count on them to get exactly what you want. 

            Finally, we have the "I was supposed to ask for something?" (aka yours truly). This person never asks for anything, not because they don't want anything for Christmas, but they don't feel like they need anything new. This is the person that when they need or what something, they'll go out and get it. This leaves the rest of the family confused about what to buy them, and they have to go off of their obscure offhand requests and nudges at interests for a base on what to buy. They might get really embarrassed when they open their gifts, which can be a reason that they don't ask for anything, hoping that nothing is there for them under the tree. This person is the worst to buy gifts for and usually end up with only one or two things that they actually wanted each year. The "I was supposed to ask for something?", can be in league with the Self Gifter, because they know they didn't ask for anything, and they still want presents. Am I proud to be this person? No. But will I ever figure out what I want for Christmas a month and a half before the day comes? Also no.

            Realizing what type of person your family members are can make the holiday season less of a hassle. You'll know what to prepare for each year, and will be better at predicting their patterns. It's also important to know what kind of person you are around the holidays so you can help your family members accordingly. There are many more different types of people, but I think that these are definitely the most common and the easiest to spot. (I'm biased because they occur in my immediate family.) Christmas should be a time to relax and enjoy time with family, and new gifts, not stressful figuring out what to buy for each person. So enjoy your holiday season with your crazy family, because you can't get rid of them, but you can learn to understand them.