Reason for the season

Teen Times:Merry Christmas! Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer! Now Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!

Everybody remembers a point in their childhood when the Christmas spirit was racing around in their bodies, creating that spine-tingling feeling, making you want to jump up and down as if you couldn't contain the excitement, while being told stories of Santa getting stuck down the chimney as your parents tucked you into bed on Christmas Eve.

Then you wake up the following morning to find a glistening white Christmas, creep down the stairs, peer in the door to find a towering mountain of gifts. These are all precious memories to which everyone can relate. But have we forgotten about the real meaning of Christmas?

It seems as if the season is now about everything in excess and the fact that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus seems to have been forgotten. Don't get me wrong, I am a true lover of the festivities. I love the Christmas feast, the giving and receiving of gifts and the getting together of family. But the commercialism of Christmas means that real message gets lost in the hustle and bustle.

I must admit that I do get a little "Bah, humbug" when neighbours, trying to keep up with the Joneses, decorate their homes like Santa's grotto in Lapland. Is there really a need for 16 different coloured flashing lights, one Santa climbing up a ladder, another Santa with his sleigh and 12 reindeer on the roof and yet another squeezing down the chimney?

Let us think back to the childhood of our parents' generation. They received a simple gift such as the doll my mother cherishes to this day. In my father's poverty-stricken family there were years when Santa brought only an orange but they were very content with the Christmas spirit and valuable time spent with family.

Things have changed drastically since then with the arrival of our Celtic Tiger. Recent studies have shown that Irish people spend, on average, €1,200 each during the Christmas period, while our sensible European counterparts spend just €600.

Do we not realise that this economic situation will not last forever? What will our plastic nation do then? The pressure to buy more has accumulated on disadvantaged families and the elderly community.

My grandmother saves for most of the year to buy presents she can barely afford. And on Christmas morning, she sees the beautiful cards thrown on the floor and the precious gifts forgotten in minutes.

So the next time you are walking around Tesco in early November and you hear Snow is Falling on repeat, think of how the commercialism of Christmas is affecting the festive season.

Remember it's not about buying bigger and better presents or having everything wrapped before December 1st, it's a time for celebrating the birth of Christ and spending precious time with our loved ones. Merry Christmas.

Aaron MacÉinrí (17) is in fifth year at Coláiste Chilliain, Clondalkin, Dublin

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