by Natalie Fitts

There are certain things that should be required for everyone to do every holiday season. And with Christmas only a month away, it’s time to get on them. So here are my top 5 holiday activities:

 5) Hang out with your family

This one is definitely going to come back to haunt me once my parents read it. And yes, it is stereotypical, but with a few weeks off from school, you can spare at least one day/night to do something fun with your family. This can include decorating your house, playing board games, or watching Christmas movies (even though I absolutely hate watching the same movie more than once, my family somehow gets me to watch “A Christmas Story” and/or “Elf” every year). Even though you can complete this activity year-round, the holidays just make it better for whatever reason.

4) Listen to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”

Admittedly, Mattie O’Boyle, Jordan Berardi, and I started listening to this in September. Honestly, it just seems applicable year-round. Actually, not really, but it’s still fun to sing. Feel free to choose your own Christmas song to listen to obsessively. This day in age (I sound like a grumpy old man), every singer and band seems to have a Christmas album, so there’s a wide selection to choose from. Some of my recommendations are Taylor Swift’s “Last Christmas,” Stephen Colbert’s “Another Christmas Song,” and the instant-classic by the Biebster, “Drummer Boy” (not a quality musical composition, but still fun to sing to). All great sing-alongs. If you prefer to stick with the classics, some good ones to belt along with are “Sleigh Ride” by Ella Fitzgerald, “What Christmas Means to Me” by Stevie Wonder, and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee.

Writing this had inspired me to make a Christmas playlist on iTunes. It makes me really happy.

3) Bake a lot

There are certain desserts my mom (sometimes I help) only makes around the holidays because they just taste better then. Plus, that makes them more special. These include “snowballs” (basically Italian wedding cookies), peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate crinkles. And if you aren’t into baking things, you can make it more of a craft project by gluing candy canes to the sides of a pack of gum to make it look like a sleigh. Then you can add whatever decor to the top to make it even more festive.

2) See Santa

Even though it’s already weird for a high school student to visit Santa, it will only get weirder as you age so you might as well do it now. Besides, it’s my personal philosophy that situations are only awkward if you make them awkward so don’t make it awkward. But if it’s too out of your comfort zone, just go to the mall and do the other Christmas activities they have. For example, Metro North Mall (Never heard of it? It’s a ghost town. #northlanderprobs)  used to have a Christmas train, and if they still have it, I guarantee you, I will be there at least once.

1) Buy stereotypical Christmas clothes

Namely, Christmas sweaters. Without fail, every time I go into any thrift store during the few weeks leading up to Christmas to find a cheesy sweater, there is at least one other person in there looking for one too. Chances are, you will have at least one event this holiday season that will require you to wear a weird Christmas sweater to so you might as well stock up. Just be careful that you never say you like someone’s “ugly” sweater unless you know they are for sure wearing it as a joke. Last year, my friend Karly came over the first day of Christmas break, looked at my sweater and asked me if we had ugly sweater day at school. We hadn’t. We’re still friends, but every time I wear that sweater, I think of her calling it ugly. And yes, I do still wearing because I think it’s cute. See picture below and decide for yourself. You can even let me know what your true feelings about it are. Karly didn’t hold back.

Just Google “ugly Christmas sweaters” for inspiration. Even celebrities like Matt Damon and Ann Curry like to participate in the fun tradition.

This doesn’t just have to include Christmas sweaters. Target always has any type of Christmas accessory you could want, including socks and headbands. They’re usually pretty cheap so they provide an inexpensive good time for all.

Like I promised last week, I will provide you with a photo to get you in the holiday spirit. Here’s one of Zac Efron wearing a Santa hat. No, I don’t care that it’s photo shopped.  It’s still perfect.