Welcome back to our new edition of Tween Scene for December. I hope you guys enjoyed our Thanksgiving column in Enid Buzz Monthly! This time we are going to talk a little bit about the holiday, CHRISTMAS! Let’s get to it.
What is Christmas you may ask? Well, Christmas is a holiday held on December 25th every year. It celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Some people celebrate with parades, others also give presents throughout the family, or have family dinners. Hey, maybe all three!
“I celebrate Christmas by baking delicious peanut butter cookies for Santa with my dad and then waking up in the morning to open presents. My dad and I wear matching holiday pajamas. After we get done with that, I go with my Mom, her boyfriend, and my siblings to my grandmas to have a lunch feast and open presents there.” – Sophia
“I celebrate Christmas by first opening presents at my house then going to my grandmas with my family and having a big dinner, then opening presents there.” – Mallie
Let’s talk a little bit about the history of this wonderful holiday.
According to history.com, in the fourth century, it was made a holiday because church officials believed that they should make Jesus’s birth a holiday. Did you know that December 25th isn’t actually his birthday? Since the Bible never said when his real birthday is, a person named Pope Julius l chose this particular date. You might be wondering why? People believe it’s because the church chose December 25th in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. But sadly as time went on Christmas got canceled and was not a holiday anymore because when Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, canceled Christmas. Did you know that Christmas was outlawed in Boston Massachusetts!?! But….. the citizens of America decided that Christmas was a fun and enjoyable holiday and so it came back and they declared it a federal holiday on June 26, 1870. The more you know!
What Christmas means to us. “ Christmas to me means a fun holiday where you get together with your family and friends to have an enjoyable day all together opening presents, feasting, playing games and hopefully having snowball fights.” -Sophia
“Christmas to me means a time to open presents and hang out with family.” – Mallie
Dear reader, What does Christmas mean to you? Let us know at tweensceneenid@gmail.com
Well, we hope the people reading this, whether it’s adults, teens or kids, enjoyed our December column of Tween Scene in Enid Buzz Monthly. See you next month!
