Reasons to hate Christmas: the Scrooge thread

[TheWoodsareDarkandDeep]

Vent here...
For me, the weight of everyone’s expectations

I love Christmas. I really do. I am up and excited and it's going to be great.

However the countless posts here and on SM about how many presents, how big is the pile, how much, how many, how big, should I spend more, is it enough... it really gets me down.

I live in a country where homeless children live under buildings to keep warm. Our local railway station has children and adults living underground next to the heating pipes. They rob and beg and prostitute themselves. They sniff paint and take terrible homemade drugs. They have nothing.

I am not better than anyone else and not holier than thou. I have however spent 50 euros each on a selection of gifts for my children. It's always been like that and they are happy. We will eat a lot and probably argue a bit because DS is 18 and a bit of an arse generally.

Honestly, I am so glad, I feel I have broken a chain. All that stuff. All that spending. All that worry about piles of presents. My children don't live in a sewer and don't sniff paint to get high and don't have the physical and mental health problems that are sweeping my country. We are so lucky.

My oven won't turn on. It trips the fuse. I have bought loads of food for today. Fuck knows what we're going to eat.

Definitely the wright of expectation and the mental load here , plus horrible memories of teenage Christmas’s with divorced parents and the fact that this year to top it off have been ill for nearly 3 months with a cough and chest infection, which finally seems to be clearing but had left me feeling hollow and exhausted.
Ds1 is home and being fab but has upset stomach due to some meds he’s on rather than a bug, ds2 being lovely but in honesty is not much practical use on the day , ds3 being utterly vile , he is under a lot of pressure but flipped because I asked him to tidy his room a week ago 🙁
In addition we gave lovely Grandpa who is not that well , and two grandmas who compete with each other . A meal to cook which takes huge effort and I never want to eat and this year I Feel so resentful of doing all this stuff for people . I have never been ‘hosted ‘ for Xmas we always host I am happy to help lots but I am so over the hosting bit 🙁

I hear you Peaseblossom (I'm back for another round of venting, having had Dh appear and inform me all about the one food item he insists on having with dinner, and which he will now fuss over obsessively for hours, while the entire rest of the meal is left to me to coordinate ).

I've never been hosted either, and the people coming to us (close family) turn up like clockwork every year, expecting a lovely feast.The rest of the year they barely bother to darken the door.

There was a great thread last year about how to do Christmas differently the following year, I wonder if amp any people have stuck to their resolutions.

Make a note NOW of what you can control and do differently.

(I am loving Christmas, but I keep it very, very simple).

Woke up alone.
Still getting over a cunty cold/ cough.
Nearly did a Torvill and Dean winter special in cold cat sick on the kitchen floor.
Neighbours were up at 7 being a noisy stomping cunts (no l;ittle kids their son is over 25) and spent 3 hours tacking their carpet down LAST NIGHT. Wankfuckers.
Missing my mum who passed away nearly 20 years ago. For some reason it's super strong today and it's making my chest hurt .
No texts from my family (whom I never see) wishing me a merry christmas. I sent you all one... Fuck you all.
Had hormonal weep so now I look like the stay puft marshmallow women.

Going round to lovely friends for lunch and games and fun later but this is the 1st year I've completely lost my Chrimbo spirit. No idea where the fuck it's gone. Couldn't even be bothered to decorate, just want to tell everyone to shove this day up their arses.

For the first time I am on my own and loving it. I don’t have to eat someone’s food at the time they say. I don’t have to sit in their cold house on an uncomfortable chair . I don’t have to travel . I can watch crap tv and I have had a bowl of cornflakes for lunch

Christmas is a giant con.
On the plus side it's basically over now.

The shameful and appalling waste - unwanted presents, thrown away food etc when so many people have so little. It's depressing and yet despite my best efforts I feel like I've been drawn into it all again this year.

I bought my own presents.

I'm having my own spa day, eating snacks, chocolate (Tony's Chocoloney and Cadbury's Dark Milk (neither have palm oil)) and just floating about in face, eye and foot masks.

Best prezzies for a sporner are a x12 magnifying mirror and a comedone extractor.

Aside from that, I can't escape cheesy Christmas music, regardless of which radio station I tune into....

It's been a crap year. I have no friends and Xmas just makes me feel so desperately lonely.

For me, the weight of everyone’s expectations

Isn't that because you indulge them?

Perhaps the expectations need taking down gently way before.

Also I find making Christmas into a season not a single day event helps - spread out presents with relatives rather than saving them all for the big day.

The thing I dislike is the guest who says "we don't do gifts anymore", then messages you at 10.30pm on Christmas Eve mentioning presents and naturally you have got them bugger all and you have to somehow magic something up for a family of four for Christmas Day...

NewYearmorestress

managed to get all the dc up for a late breakfast which was nice and then dh and I took dog out . Would really like to sit down with my knitting but feeling I ought to pop over to see my mother as she was on her own yesterday .