Christmas

7th graders guessed what 30-year-olds want for Christmas and their answers are hilarious

The hilarious and humbling answers came from middle school kids in Palm Springs, California, after their teacher asked, "What do you buy someone in their 30s for the holidays?"

Christmas gifts
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Measuring cups, a vacuum, Bingo cards and a divorce lawyer.

That's what seventh-grade students students believe that adults — sorry, 30-year-old adults — want for Christmas.

The hilarious and humbling answers came from middle school kids in Palm Springs, California, after their teacher Shane Frakes asked, "What do you buy someone in their 30s for the holidays?"

Here is the whole list, shared in a TikTok video with 1.6 million views, on Frakes' account 7th Grade Chronicles.

  • "Measuring cups."
  • "Signs that say, 'Bless This 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. It'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 cuz their muscles be hurtin.'"
  • "A coffee mug that says, 'Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee' because they're all coffee-obsessed millennials."
  • "A lawyer for the divorce attorney (fight for the kids)."

Not many in Frakes' comment section found fault with the "solid" but "ruthless" list.

"But are they wrong? Because I honestly love soup and candles. I'm 36" and "That coffee mug comment cut deep" were some of the comments, along with, "I feel personally attacked."

Frakes, who has taught seventh grade language arts in the Palm Springs Unified School District for 11 years, says he loves learning from students.

"I found that students were engaging less after the pandemic so I started asking them random questions," Frakes, 35, tells TODAY.com. "I write a question on the chalkboard and hand out Post-it notes on which to write answers that we discuss as a five-minute warm-up."

"The exercise might take a few minutes of instruction but it's how we connect and get to know each other," he adds. "Afterward, the students are more focused in class."

Frankes' students loved the assignment so much, they encouraged him to share their answers on TikTok.

"The reality is, 12-year-old kids think 30 is ancient," says Frakes. "It seems old and so far away."

Frakes appreciated their selections, particularly the gift cards to Panera and Bath & Body Works.

"What does a home-scented candle even smell like?" he jokes.

Frakes says people interested in being a middle-school teacher check their egos at the classroom door.

"Every day is a fun and challenging journey," he says. "My students are on the brink of self-discovery and I enjoy playing a small role in that. But you'll need to be patient and not take yourself too seriously."

Frakes needn't worry — now that he's on TikTok, he's earned cool points with his students.

"TikTok is their space, so it provides me with a bit of social clout in the classroom," says Frakes. "I won't shy away from that."

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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