Graphic by Lexi Marcellino

Taking the ornaments off of the Christmas tree is not nearly as fun as putting them on. We have already counted down the seconds until the ball dropped in Time Square, stuffed our faces with Thanksgiving Turkey, and embraced a creepier side during Halloween.

Now that the excitement of the holidays are over, the jolly man down the street doesn’t seem so much like Santa and the hot chocolate just doesn’t taste as sweet.

Even more depressing is the hundreds of lights that you have to take down outside and the full throttle decorations that need to be placed back in the attic.

Instead of dwelling in the post-holiday world January has welcomed you into, embrace the perks of this holiday-less season. You can finally get out of the holidaze.

Family is great, but being trapped with them like you are in a snowstorm (only you are in Florida), isn’t. Now that the holidays are over, you can once again sleep diagonally in your bed and not have to worry about your little cousin kicking you in their sleep. You can also go back to your social life, if you have one being a Dreyfoos student.

Beyond the suffocating family love you will have to live without, embracing the end of the holidays can be easier once you realize you will soon be able to replenish the money you spent on your entire family’s gifts. Now that every paycheck isn’t going to your grandma’s newest Christmas sweater, or your best friend’s “Besties Forever” bracelet, you can spend your money on you and all of the Starbucks and CityPlace meals you desire.

With your new paycheck, you can take a new lease on life. Post-holiday sales scatter across malls nationwide, allowing you to get twice the amount of fuzzy socks for two times less than the usual asking price. These sales are a great way to reward yourself for sitting through your great uncle’s story on how he survived “the war” for the thousandth time.

Another reward for surviving the holidays is the end of leftovers. No more turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey, turkey, turkey. At first, this main course is mouth-watering, but after two months of leftovers, food that isn’t from a plastic bin seems like a luxury. Your calorie intake will also decline dramatically after staying away from the gingerbread men, eggnog, and holiday meals that no one can ignore.

Going out for a normal, non-holiday dinner will also be much easier. Snowbirds will fly back North, and the roads will clear from the congested traffic and overfilled restaurants that once drove natives mad. CityPlace will once again be ruled by Dreyfoos students on Friday nights, and traffic leaving this still crazy area, will not be nearly as bad once these birdies go bye bye.

The holidays only come once-a-year for a reason. If they were present all year, they wouldn’t be the same. Now that they are over, you can stop worrying about “quality” family time and enjoy food that doesn’t come in ten courses. But if you’re still feeling disheartened by the end of this heartfelt season, never fear- there are only 300 days until the holidays come back with a scream.