As a kid it's impossible to imagine a day when you don't want toys for Christmas. But the day inevitably comes that your wish list changes. It might be video games, make up or skincare, clothes, or whatever water bottle all the kids are using (anything to fit in, right?) But even still it's almost impossible to wrap your head around the mindset of a true grown up. Sweaters? Gift cards to Home Goods? Candles? Boooooooring!
Seventh grade teacher Mr. Frakes routinely asks his students to give their observations on various aspects of adulthood to post on his TikTok —everything from “things parents love to say” to reactions to old school songs to guessing the “worst parts about adulting." The answers are always hilarious…if not a little brutal to us olds. His Christmas edition is no different.
Mr. Frakes asked his students “what do you buy someone in their 30s for the holidays?” And the adults who saw the video can’t help but commend the accuracy.
How can we be so young, yet feel so old? Or maybe we've got it backwards.Giphy
Frakes had the kids write their ideas on green sticky notes and edited together a TikTok video showing them all in succession. The list is as follows, verbatim.
“Measuring cups…bwahaha.”“
"Signs that say ‘Bless The Home.’”
“A Dyson vacuum.”
“A bottle of wine and hip implants.”
“Panera bread gift card. People in their 30s love soup!”
“Bingo cards.”
“You give them Bath & Body Works stuff. That’s what my mom wants!”
“Expensive meats.”
“Hard Candies.”
“Candy Crush Premium.”
“You get them old people candles that smell like ‘home’ or ‘back then.’”
“T.J. Maxx gift card.”
“The wrinkle creams.”
“Heated blanket cause their muscles be hurtin.”
“A coffee mug that says ‘don’t talk to me til I’ve had my coffee’ because they’re all coffee obsessed millennials.”
“A lawyer for the divorce attorney. (fight for the kids).”
The entire video is a worth a watch:
@7thgradechronicles Its me. I’m 30s. 😂🫣😬#teachersoftiktok #teacher #teacherlife #teachertok #middleschool #middleschoolteacher #middleschoolteacher #middleschoollife #dyson #panerabread #tjmaxx
Obviously, adults who saw this joked about feeling personally attacked. But also seen.
Case in point: one person wrote, “Okay the ‘they’re all coffee obsessed millennials’ was personal” as another admitted, “I watched this while drinking coffee out of my ‘don't talk to me til I’ve had my coffee’ mug.”
Hip implants? Hard candies? How old do these kids think 30 is?! Probably the most upsetting thing about the list, however, is how accurate most of it is.
Another user added, “But are they wrong? Because I honestly love soup and candles. I’m 36.”
Echoing that sentiment, someone commented, “not me thinking all those gifts sound amazing.”
Even Mr. Frakes himself responded saying, "I would be happy with most of these."
And of course, everyone was eyeing that Dyson vacuum. That is a legitimately good gift and the kids need to step off. They also have a lot of nerve teasing us for "the wrinkle creams" when every 10-year-old girl is obsessed with skincare and Ultra. But, hey, we're millennials — we can take a little good-natured ribbing.
We 30-somethings are still in our prime, even if we need a heated blanket for our aching muscles!Giphy
Growing older might mean muscles that “be hurtin’” and some judgement from the younger generation, but it clearly also comes with a deep felt appreciation for the simple, practical things in life, as indicated by this list. Nothing wrong with that.
(After all, the young ones might balk now, but it won’t be long til they become coffee obsessed as well.)
But maybe this can be a wake-up call, or just some gentle inspiration, for all us to find a little more fun in the holidays and in our wish lists. We might really want that heated blanket, but maybe we can also ask for our family or spouse to surprise us with a fun adventure, a new board or card game, or just something that'll make us laugh.
May we all get a bit of holiday joy this year, in whatever form we can.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It had been updated.
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