Rockville High School Senior Diary: Surviving the Holidays

The holidays are right around the corner and while it seems exciting now, in the moment of hectic christmas dinner and family kisses around every corner, the holidays can become pretty stressful.

I have complied some tips on how a high school senior can survive the holidays in any situation.
Surviving the Worst Present
Presents are inevitable during the holidays, and while the best intentions are behind every gift, sometimes that sweater from grandma just is not what you were hoping for this year.
Step One: When opening your present, the first step is to look at it wide-eyed, giving you some time to hide your initial reaction.
Step Two: Shout “Oh look! A ___!” Make sure to add as much excitement to your voice as humanly possible in order to make them think that it was the best present you have ever gotten.
Step Three: Praise the gift choice, but do not over do it because you do not want to give the giver the idea that you want this again.
Step Four: Put aside the present and steer the conversation somewhere else; possible to someone else’s present or grandma's cookies.
Step Five: Secretly Discard on Dec. 26.
Jingle- Bell Headache
Since the Christmas season starts on Nov. 1, you have probably been singing “Frosty the Snowman” for weeks and just want a break.
Symptoms of this may include:

• Consistent eye rolling
• Urge to kick something
• Headaches
• Lack of christmas spirit

Step One: Pour yourself a drink. Please note, if you are under 18 and suffering from Jingle-Bell Headache, go sit down with a gallon of eggnog, a stack of Christmas movies, and your ugliest Christmas sweater because you are too young to hate Christmas!
Step Two: Enjoy some holiday music that won’t make you want to tear down the decorations and set the tree on fire.
Surviving Secret Santa
The office secret santa is just around that corner and you have no idea what to get your not-so-special someone. It is easy to get some office supplies, maybe some cookies you bought at the store, but this year, you want to rock the secret santa, without spending a lot of money.
Headphones are perfect because human contact is so 2000s. No one talks to each other anymore, and music saves us all, so why not give your secret Santa person a pair of rocking headphones to keep at work.
A personalized mug would surely make any caffeine addict’s Christmas. If you don’t know the person that well, then a mug with a funny saying on it is the perfect choice. If he or she would most likely be drinking wine at their desk if it wasn’t against office policy, then geta wine glass, or even better, a jumbo wine glass. Bigger is definitely better in this case.
Gift Cards
Do I need to say anything else?
Toiletries are the perfect way to subtly tell people that they smell and should probably use this room spray and body mist every five minutes. A candle is also a good gift, maybe not for work, but everyone loves a candle during the holiday season. It is a real mood-setter. Christmas mood, people. I know what you were thinking.
Family Photos
It’s the end of dinner and all you want to do is go home and go into yet another turkey coma in less than a month. But grandma insists that you gather around the for annual family Christmas photo. No one wants to squish together on the couch and fake a smile, but grandma is insisting. There’s just one problem, you don’t know how not to look awkward in a photo.
Check your hair for any flyaway or leftover food. You know you dropped a piece of pie in it and were secretly saving it for later.
Be sure to raise your perfectly trimmed eyebrows you waxed just for this occasion. Raising them a little will make it appear that you were actually enjoying yourself, but not too high to appreciate serial-killer-esque.
Check your teeth for even more leftover food, and anywhere else for that matter that you could have dropped some food.
Avoid these poses to prolong the photo in anyway:

• Duck face. These pictures are just for grandma, don’t go overboard.

• Bunny Ears are not necessary. Though they are funny, grandma does not appreciate remembering her fourth born grandchild having bigger ears than the ones that run in the family.

• You could probably still take a better picture with T-rex arms, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should, so keep them by your side!

• No matter how hard you try to hide that sweater from the world, grandma still wants to see it, so the over-the-shoulder pose won’t work. In any case, turn to the side. Your food baby bump will only show a little.

Basically, just stand up straight, and show your teeth for grandma!
Follow these tips and you might want to come home more often for family gatherings.

Photo credit: Lisbeth Forstberg Harrison