12 Days of Christmas

In 2015, I will moderate my blog a little. Starting now, I will be posting short stories, nonfiction papers and parts of longer stories as well as book reviews and book reports. Some of my posts will be longer, like this one, and some will be shorter.

This is something we did in Language Arts, called 12 Days of Writing. Our teacher, Mrs. White wrote the questions and we wrote the answers. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

12 Days of Writing

1. You just found out you have $50.00 to spend on gifts.  What would you do with it... for OTHERS?                                      I would get play-dough for my sister - 12 dollars. I would get 2 packs of Kit-Kats for my father, 8 dollars. A sparkly pen for my mother - 6 dollars. That’s 24 dollars down. For the rest of the money I would buy friendship bracelets/necklaces for me and my friends. I love friendship jewelry, although me and my friends don’t need bracelets or necklaces to remind us of our friendship.  I would hope that my friends will get presents for me, too.
2. Tomorrow is a SNOW DAY!  Tell what you would do. I would wake up, eat waffles for breakfast, then call my friends and ask them if they can hang out after lunch. Ten I will stay inside and spend time with my family, read, watch a movie or do crafts. Then I would have some warm soup for lunch and wait for my friends. When they come over, we will go outside, have snowball fights, go sledding and build a fort. Then we would go inside, drink hot chocolate, talk, giggle and have fun. When my friends leave I will offer to make dinner and dessert. I will bake something, most likely brownies or chocolate chip cookies and make macaroni and cheese with meatballs and pretzels. Then we will eat dinner as a family. When my little sister, Julia goes to bed, me, my mom, and my dad will watch a movie together. Then I will go to bed and snuggle with my kitty.
3. Pretend you have given Santa a mobile phone, laptop, or iPad.  Explain to Santa how this new technology will help him and save him a lot of time.   Dear Santa Claus,

                This year I  will give you a present to thank you for all the years that you have given me presents. This is called a laptop. You can write down all of the kids’ wish lists. You can just tell them to email you! And the ones that don’t have email, you can type in yourself. I have also sent you a “Learn to use technology disc”. Just put it in your laptop and it will teach you everything. You can also use Skype to call parents or kids. The younger ones will be thrilled if you use the video option! Good luck with mastering technology! And a very merry Christmas to you!

Maria Yasinovska, 11-year-old girl at 405 E. Plum st, West Union, Iowa.

4. What are your wishes for the world this holiday season?

I really hope that Europe and the U.S. will make some reasonable consequences toward Russia, so that Russia gets out of Ukraine, gives Crimea back to the Ukrainian government and covers the cost of the war. I am still a Ukrainian at heart, and I really want Putin overthrown!

I also hope that everyone will have food on their tables and a roof over their heads this Christmas. People should make donations to funds that go to poor countries because that it’s just the right thing to do.

I hope that families will unite and celebrate Christmas together. Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ and their should be no fighting and arguments. Even if you don’t go to church, you should still honor it by having a warm, cozy, family atmosphere on Christmas. I also hope that parents get days off of work on Christmas. I believe that Christmas is a holiday that should be celebrated with family and love.

5. Imagine that money, toys, and gadgets didn't exist. Then, write about five things you could still do for someone else during the holidays.  

You could still give present/ make surprises. You could help someone out by doing errands, helping with cleaning, etc. You could take care of their children/ brothers and sisters. Everyone loves baked goods, so you could bake something for them. Most people don’t enjoy shoveling their driveways, so you could do that for them. Remember, you can still give presents. Pets, snowmobiles, cars, books, furniture, clothes and more! Presents are always an option!

6. You really want a new game system for Christmas.  Your parents tell you that it's not worth the money. Write a letter to your parents convincing them to buy it for you.

(this is fake.)

                      Dear Mom and Dad,

           I really love you! You are the absolutely best, most awesome parents on the planet. The nicest, kindest, most child-understanding parents that have ever lived. Thank you for all the things that you have ever done for me. I love you! Now, to the point. I really want a Wii system for Christmas. You said that it’s not worth the money, but I think it is. After I get tired of it, Catherine and Jonia can have it to play with, and after THEY get tired of it, Freddy can have it. Me and my friends will be very happy if you buy it for me. We won’t be bored anymore. It will make me happy and I will spend less time on my phone and ipad. If you’re still not convinced, I’m willing to pay half of the price. Thanks a lot for hearing me out!

With love and hope,

You son, Mike

7. Is it better to give or receive?  What are the benefits of both? Both are awesome. I actually like giving better than receiving because it is always really fun to see people’s expressions on their faces when they open presents. It’s fun to open presents as well, because you get something new and usually  you get things that you wanted. Or things that you didn’t want. It’s funny when you get things that you don’t want because then you have to try to figure out what to do with it.
8. You went to bed and it was December 31, 2012.  You woke up and it was January 1, 2053.   Yesterday I was at a sleepover with my friends. Last night I went to bed really late because we were celebrating New Year’s Eve. I stayed up until 2 o'clock in the morning! When I woke up I was at a different house. I was the first one up so I ran downstairs. Wait, how did I run downstairs? My house is a one-story house. I was confused because it didn’t look like my house at all. Then I looked outside through the back door I became even more confused. There was absolutely no snow on the ground. There was no frost on the grass either. This was just plain weird! Insted, there was a pool and a tramploline. The sun was up in the sky and birds were chirping about. I went back upstairs to my room. Where was I? As it turns out, Alabama. A very nice lady explained that I was appointed “Time Traveler” on a very elite team of undercover agents. She told me to chill until I turned 12, and then come back. I got back into a cool-looking time machine, which was disguised as a bed. See you in 2015!
9. Has Christmas become too commercialized?  Defend your position. Yes. There are all these Santas on TV and on food. Santa has become an advertising product and with Santa, so has Christmas. Someone else should take over Christmas, like Olaf the snowman. Kidding, but that would be cool. Santa has become the “idol” of Christmas, and everybody forgets the religious beginning of Christmas. But, back to the subject at hand. Santa is in department stores, Santa is at places where kids will see him and bug their parents to “go see and talk to Santa”. And sometimes, seeing Santa costs money. Santa is on TV, Santa is on food wrappers and packages advertising products left and right. Santa recommends these chips, Santa’s reindeer prefer “Freshire Farm” carrots over “My Family” carrots, Santa LOVES Dean’s milk with Chips Ahoy cookies, SANTA, SANTA, SANTA!!!
10. Why do you think people hang stockings up over fireplaces?  Make up a story to tell why this tradition occurs.

Three elves were helping Santa deliver presents in the town of Fayette, Iowa. Their names were Jingle, Bells, and Holly. They, along with Santa went into different houses and delivered presents. Holly went into a house and looked for the Christmas tree. There was no Christmas tree because they didn’t have time to put one up. Holly called for Jingle and Bells. They considered leaving no presents, but there were two kids, James and Lili, who wanted and expected presents. So they asked Santa what to do. He said Find the sock drawer and put the presents into socks. So that’s what they did. Although Jingke put James’s  present into his underwear. But nobody cared because they got presents and a chance to start a new Christmas tradition. Since then, people hang up sock over the fireplace for the little stuff, so that Santa’s elves don’t have to dig around in their sock drawer.

11. Describe your favorite holiday tradition.

December 19th is St. Nicholas’s Day (st. Nick’s day, as I call it). I’m Ukrainian, so we usually get presents on St. Nick’s Day AND New Year’s day. Ever since I  moved to the U. S., I’ve been getting presents on st. Nick’s day and Christmas. But the tradition that I’m going to describe is my family’s tradition. We’ve been doing this for four or five years now. Every December 19, in the evening, we exchange presents. I’ve always loved doing it and it’s really fun. Although it’s kind of unfair that we have to get my little sister, Julia, something, and she doesn’t give us anything. :-)

 

12. Create a list of things the earth would want for Christmas.  What do you think would be on the list?

1.  Same seasons all over, because it feels weird to be warm in one place and cold in the other.
2. Stop all wars! World peace!
3. Nicer people.
4. Give everybody food!
5. A friend.
6. Food, just to see what it’s like. I get hungry sometimes.
7. Clothes. I feel exposed.
8. Stop stomping on me as much.
9. Stop pollution, you bullies!
10. Have people learn all the truths of the world before they’re too old.