The Perfect Holiday Gift
Christmas tree and decor at the author’s household.
December 24, 2017
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Snow is falling, chestnuts are roasting, and the long-awaited winter break has arrived for Hingham High School students.
In the midst of cookie baking, house decorating, and ugly sweater contests, also comes Yankee swaps and gift giving. Everyone is searching and stressing to find the perfect gifts for family and friends.
According to English 9 and AP Language teacher Ms. Jope, the most stressful person to find a gift for is her husband. “He just doesn’t need anything, or generally doesn’t want anything, so it takes some detective work,” she said.
Both junior Robbie Briggs and freshman Jack Crinley spoke that finding a meaningful gift for their moms was the most stressful, while freshmen girls Lily Murphy and Maddie Clark agreed that their dads were the most difficult to find meaningful gifts for.
Junior Shea Morrissey said, “Friends are the most stressful to shop for because you never know what they might like. It’s a problem of maybe they’ll love this or maybe they’ll never use it.”
On the contrary, freshman Lily Hamilton spoke that the easiest person to find a gift for is “someone your own age because you have some sort of sense of what they might like.”
Freshman Jake Cripley spoke that kids, specifically ten-year-olds, are the easiest to shop for because “you can buy them toys.” But for adults, he advised, “Gifts cards are the easiest.”
Junior Molly Schwall said that “my dog is the easiest to please: get him a bone and he’s set.”
This season, the best gift Ms. Jope is giving is a trip to Chicago for herself, her husband, and her 3-year-old son. She wants to “begin to introduce [her son] to traveling because the best gift is going places.”
Junior Robbie Briggs said that he was getting a Hydroflask water bottle for his mom because “they are such good quality.”
For the best gift to receive, while freshman Sophia Renauld said “money,” Lily Murphy said “something from the heart.”
French teacher Mr. Porter stated that he would “gladly receive world peace and an eradication of famine and disease,” but if that isn’t possible, he’d take a travel voucher.
On the subject of gifts dominating the holidays, junior Molly Schwall spoke, “I always feel really good when I give people gifts. It’s always nice to find them, too, so I guess that makes up for all the stress [they cause].”
Mr. Porter explained that he feels the obsessive gifting part of the holiday season “has gotten out of control. It has started earlier and earlier and earlier each year. What started maybe a few days before Thanksgiving now starts shortly after Halloween. Its too much, too much of an emphasis on getting stuff and giving stuff with ribbon on top.”
Ms. Jope also commented on how she feels about gifts being such a focus in celebrating the winter holiday. “To each his own, I think,” she shared. “Families who think that gifts are a representation of sentiment that they have with a person is great. I know I love the excitement of finding toys for my kids.”
On the forgotten parts of the holiday season, freshman Maddie Clark explained that the food at Christmas dinner is greatly unappreciated.
Despite the holiday you may celebrate, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, demonstrating love for family and friends is the seemingly most important part of celebration for both the faculty and students of Hingham High School. As freshman Lily Hamilton explained, “Christmas is about love and spending time with family, not the gifts.”
