Childhood Christmas: a fading memory

By Daisy Leading Fox

As the Christmas season approaches, the students at Owasso High School reflect back on their unique memories of the Christmas season. Elementary christmas parties, elf on the shelf, Santa visits, pajama days and more festive childhood staples rush through their minds. In high school, students are so busy studying for the end of the year exams that it leads them to reminisce on the easy days of elementary school, causing childhood nostalgia. But the old Christmas spirit wasn’t just present at school, it took place in our homes. 

Various pictures of OHS students provided by OHS students

As traditions fall dim throughout the few years pushed between elementary and high school, students feel many vulnerable emotions. As we open our eyes to the time fleeting, we begin to wish our younger selves thought to take in all the moments, however, we were just children. 

Sadie Cramer, a sophomore at Owasso High School, tells about her old Christmas traditions. “We had this one tradition called ‘Jammy Cocoa Christmas.’... We got in our pajamas, went to get hot chocolate, and then go look at Christmas lights.” She continued, “I guess that was one of my favorite traditions we did— ... decorating the tree.” 

Cramer later expressed that although she loves spending time with family, the magic of Christmas is not as strong as it used to be. 

Touching on the switch from kid to teen, Cramer brought up her family’s elf on the shelf that her parents used to hide for her and her younger sister. “[Me and my parents] hide it for my sister now… [and] it just makes me feel happy and good because I feel like I'm creating that joy for my sister too,” Cramer described. 

Cramer explained that she feels as if a magical Christmas environment is dire for children. “It’s kind of what shaped me as a person, and I'm still childish to be honest because it just feels better to hold onto that then … start growing up.” 

Junior at Owasso High School, Hailey Rock, discussed how her Christmas celebrations have changed over the years. Initially, Rock’s family spent Christmas as a big family gathered around a small living room, enjoying each other's company. As the years passed by, Rock’s family got more scattered as communication along with relationships faded. 

Relating to Cramer, Rock also had an elf on the shelf named Bernard. Going on about other traditions pursued by her family, Rock mentioned a Naughty list her parents had laying around, “For like a whole month, my parents would put my ranking down if I did something bad.” She continued laughing, “I would hide it.”

Rock then expressed how she felt about her growing up mindset, saying, “It’s the same with all holidays, … when you’re little you don’t really think about all the family drama and all of that but as you get older you tend to put it over the actual holiday.” Even after this, Rock still believes every child should have their magic Christmas traditions as she believes it's important to pass it down for generations.

As we address kids growing up, the seniors are perhaps hit with childhood reflections the most. Reagan Rozzi, a senior at Owasso High School, recounts her Christmas stories highlighting a particularly hard time her family went through pertaining to financial struggles and their living environment. Despite these obstacles, her parents made sure to give her a magical Christmas. 

“My parents have celebrated every Christmas with me … I was always grateful.” Rozzi recounts.

Rozzi hits on her Christmas traditions as well, describing, “We would always go see Santa at the mall and take our pictures …  [and] on Christmas morning my mom would also turn on that fireplace video from YouTube.” 

Being a senior, Rozzi is focused on her college career. However, college means moving away from family. “I’m hoping that before I leave for college, and before my parents invest themselves in their career, we’re able to have one last good family oriented Christmas,” Rozzi declares. 

Although the holidays feel different as we grow older, our loved ones and community keep the spirits high.