In honor of the exciting approach of the holiday season, this week’s Throwback Thursday takes a trip to our own Christmas past. While the overall idea of Christmas hasn’t changed much over the span of our lives, the way we view the holiday season now probably doesn’t match what we thought about Christmas when we were five. Once you get into high school, it’s not quite as acceptable to stay up all night trying to catch Santa and anxiously waiting for him to bring you that Hotwheels car you asked for.

This year for Christmas you probably didn’t ask your parents (I mean Santa?) for Hotwheels, or for a Barbie Dream House and a new teddy bear. As we get older, the gifts we ask for become more practical, such as clothes and shoes and money, but they’ll never quite live up to the outrageous and awesome things we used to get for Christmas. There was no thrill in life that compared to how excited we were to race downstairs on Christmas morning and open that one present that you could not wait for. Your new basketball hoop or FurReal Friend or Razr scooter was going to change your life, no doubt about it. It didn’t matter how silly the toy was, or how many times your parents told you that you would lose interest in it after a week or that you’ll shoot your eye out. That toy was magic and we could not wait to open it.

This year when you made your Christmas list, you probably didn’t mail it to Santa. Maybe you did, in which case, keep on keeping on. Most of us, however, mailed ours to the official PO Box of mom and dad. Eliminating our letter’s journey to the North Pole finally relieved all of our fears that the Christmas list we spent so long perfecting might get lost in the mail and never reach Santa and his elves. We also no longer have to worry about making Santa’s naughty list. That being said, your mom still keeps a naughty list, so you still better watch out and you better not cry. Obviously, giving up Santa had its downsides. These days, there’s no reason to stay up all night waiting to hear the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof. There’s no one to leave out milk and cookies for (unless your parents might appreciate a nice midnight snack), and there’s no reason to investigate the presents on Christmas morning in hopes that maybe Santa dropped one of his belongings and you can finally track him down.

Without Santa, the magic of Christmas may seem lost on us for a few years. It takes us a while to figure out what our parents and the rest of the world have known for a long time. Through high school as we turn into adults, we see that the magic of Christmas isn’t about Santa or your new scooter. We start to appreciate the holiday season as a time for family and friends, and we start to appreciate the Christmas spirit of giving rather than receiving. This holiday season, spend time with your family, be happy, and never give up on waiting all night for Santa.