MOST Parents Wish They Could Relive Christmas Of Their Childhood

Remember when Christmas felt like it took approximately six years to arrive? Now you're the parent and somehow December lasts 11 minutes.

A new survey finds eight in 10 parents wish they could go back and experience the holiday season the way it felt when they were kids.

And if we could fire up the Christmas time machine, apparently a lot of us would set the dial straight to the 1990s.

Two surveys, each involving 2,000 parents of children between five and 17, looked at the nostalgia parents have for their childhood holidays and how they're trying to recreate some of that magic for their own kids.

Nearly a third of parents, 31 per cent, said the '90s had the best holiday celebrations, more than any other decade.

Which makes sense.

Christmas in the '90s meant circling everything you wanted in a giant toy catalogue, watching the same Christmas specials when they actually aired on TV and having absolutely no idea what was inside your presents because you couldn't accidentally see the Amazon order history.

We're Trying to Give Our Kids the Same Christmas

One of the surveys found 93 per cent of parents regularly or occasionally recreate parts of the holidays they remember from childhood for their own families.

And what we miss most isn't necessarily the presents.

Family traditions and rituals topped the nostalgia list at 44 per cent, followed by home-cooked family recipes at 39 per cent and uninterrupted family time at 34 per cent.

Parents also miss:

• Holiday movies and TV specials everyone watched together: 32 per cent
• Not knowing what gifts they were getting: 30 per cent
• The way homes were decorated: 29 per cent
• Playing games and doing activities together: 28 per cent

Basically, we spent our childhood desperately wanting presents and adulthood realizing Grandma's cookies and everyone sitting in the same room were actually the good stuff.

The Magic Doesn't Last Forever

Parents believe six is the most magical age to experience the holidays, with that childhood wonder beginning to fade around age 11.

But there's good news for parents of older kids.

Nearly nine in 10 parents believe their children are still at an age where celebrating big moments together matters, while 85 per cent believe the holiday spirit is still alive and well in their kids.

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That includes 78 per cent of parents with teenagers.

They might roll their eyes while decorating the tree and emerge from their bedrooms only when food is involved, but apparently the magic is still in there somewhere.

And watching those kids get older is making parents more aware of just how quickly these Christmases disappear.

More than four in 10 parents said they're actively trying to be more present during the holidays because they're thinking about how many Christmas seasons they have left while their children are still young.

And that's the part that hits.

When you're a kid, you count down the days until Christmas.

When you're a parent, you start realizing you're also counting how many of these Christmases you have left with them at home.

So take the pictures. Make the cookies. Watch the cheesy movie again.

And when your teenager complains about having to participate in another family tradition, ignore them.

One day, it'll probably be the thing they miss too.