• Christmas brings many family members together under one roof, an opportunity to make merry together and exchange gifts.
  • It might also be a recipe for disaster. With challenges from animosity to jealousy, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and get-togethers often bring out the worst in people. 

Many holidays are held in high regard worldwide, including Easter and Thanksgiving, but Christmas is universal. The holiday is celebrated on the25th December of every year. It involves lots of food and drinks, gift-giving, reuniting between families and friends, music and lots of fun in general.

In Africa, the older generations looked forward to the holiday because it guaranteed the children an endless supply of chapatis, meat and, most significantly, new clothes! A child’s dream comes true, right?

However, the current social media trends have shown that Christmas may no longer be held in the same high regard. It is no longer unusual to see people picking up extra shifts around the 20th-25th of December.

While we agree that the cost of living has skyrocketed significantly over the years, not only in Kenya but worldwide, we can attest that Christmas is no longer a big deal.

Some of the reasons observed include the above-mentioned high cost of living. Another reason may be the significant shift in the things the different generations hold dear. While the other generations may have family ties in high regard, it might not be the same for Gen Z.

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Christmas brings many family members together under one roof, an opportunity to make merry together and exchange gifts. It might also be a recipe for disaster. With challenges from animosity to jealousy, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and get-togethers often bring out the worst in people.

This has been proven through various testimonies given through social media platforms such as Reddit and Sub-Redditt, Tiktok for example, the hashtag #amItheA-Hole, where people post their stories and experiences on multiple issues including holiday drama or family issues, and the internet gives responses and advice.

The threads expose a dark side of Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings where family members are often criticized based on their dress, religion, partners, choices in whether to have a life partner, education, success, or careers.