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Kids take their cues from parents. Even growing up, 80s-90s, I knew kids who treated holidays as NBD, because that was how their families were.
Christmas was (and is) a big deal in my house because my family made it a big deal. There were traditions, special things that only happened then, etc. Holidays are what individual families make of them. If kids are jaded, etc., they've been raised to be that way.
My daughter makes a fairly big deal about Christmas and goes to some lengths to guilt extended family into being "secret Santas" (that is, chipping in on gifts for the kids she can't afford). All three of her kids (ages 4, 11 and 13) seem quite juiced about Christmas. The biggest gift they got was a huge trampoline in the back yard and she could scarcely get them to come inside from playing on it to talk to grandpa on Christmas day. All of them spoke breathlessly of their respective "hauls" in some detail. So it would seem that at least some children still find Christmas day compelling.
Personally as I got into my teens I never seemed to get anything but socks and ties and the like and the holiday family get-togethers seemed interminable to me. But as a younger kid, I had a blast with it and yes I think I took my cues from my parents because they seemed to enjoy ginning up the Christmas experience as much as I enjoyed basking in it.
I did not bah-humbug Christmas with my own kids nor did I particularly "puff" it so I don't know where my daughter caught the bug. My son, while he was alive, certainly didn't care one way or the other about Christmas, although he appreciated practical gifts.
So I guess it comes down to personalities and some combination of grooving on the subjective Christmas "spirit" and being sufficiently acquisitive.
I grew up as a kid in the 80's and I can remember getting really excited for Christmas. It wasn't just getting gifts -- it was having 2 weeks off school to sleep in and stay in PJs all day, visit some cousins I rarely see, and maybe do some sled-riding or snowball fights with friends if there was snow. Even watching "Rudolph" or "Charlie Brown Xmas" on TV was a fun time in those days. I actually enjoyed helping my Mom decorate the tree, and climbing ladders to help my Dad string lights.
But these days, kids dont seem enthused about Christmas at all.
I wouldnt be surprised if it was because of all the garbage decorations and lights most people use now!!! (It isnt attractive)
I do not like christmas either.... The tree is ugly (Ugly tiny white lights,etc) ..... Nothing @ all what I remember in the 80s and earlier....
The farther back we go in time, the more religion played a role in Christmas because there were more church goers. It wasn't JUST a commercial winter festival.
Schools have become non-partial to holidays, Period. Little festivities and acknowledgments in schools when WE were kids added to the charm of Christmas; now, it's avoided like the plague to "not hurt others feelings".
Life is much faster-paced than it was in decades past, and "toys" and "life" was simpler before the dawning of technology in every move we make.
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