Thinking of Christmas, many things come to my mind, like Santa Clause and presents.  Yet, the one thing overarching all of these things is Christmas decorations. They can be simple, but some people choose to go all out, decking their house out in lights and inflatables. However, when my family decorates for the holidays, we decorate together. Decorating for me is not just about making the house look like we have festive spirit, but the time spent with my family while we decorate. Throughout the process, my family will have random conversation and catch up on each other’s lives, because we all have gotten extremely busy and there just is not enough time in our days to talk like that on a normal basis. This is family time that is dear to my heart and I feel that it strengthens the bond that I have with my family.

Over Thanksgiving Break, I found out from my aunt and uncle that some families get their houses professionally decorated. They pay professional designers and decoraters to put up the lights and decorate their trees. They lose money to the professionals they pay when they could just do it themselves. From doing some research, mainly just typing in my friend Google’s search bar, professional decorating just seemed even more ridiculous. I learned that professional decorators can work for five hundred dollars, but depending on the size of your house, it can range to thousands not including the materials, according to The New York Times. I can see how this could be a plus side to the holiday season if you’re the one getting paid, as can Eric Daylue, ‘19. “It’s a big pay out for those who are doing it, but I feel bad for the ones who are paying for it to be done,” Daylue said.

By getting their house professionally decorated, they are not just losing money, but they are also losing that time they could spend with family. Those random but intimate conversations with family; the bonding that comes with the decorating. If your family professionally decorates, you lose precious time to spend with them due to college and life after high school, time is running out.  I talked with James Grimm ‘21 whose family decorates each year and decorates together, as a family,“It’s not about showing off how pretty your Christmas tree is, it’s something to do as a family,”Grimm said.

Christmas is a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, it has been modernized into a holiday that is celebrated by many people, not just as a way to celebrate religion, but as a way to spend time with family and just celebrate being together. You are missing one of the major elements to the holiday season, by getting your house professionally decorated!