Safe place for those who don't enjoy christmas (for whatever reason).

[ueberlin2030]

A safe space to express how you feel this festive season, without judgement, whether you feel this way every year or are just struggling/having a hard time this year.
If you do enjoy christmas then feel free to comment as long as it's kind and not telling us why we should enjoy christmas too.
I'm not 100% sure why I don't enjoy it, and haven't for a while, though I do have some thoughts which I'm trying to work through logically. 🙃

Have never liked it & like it even less now as I live with my mum. Adult daughter is home & have booked 3 nights away. Haven’t seen her for 6 months & foolishly felt obliged to invite my mother & SEN brother for the day. Only have these two days off work & could do without their company as see them 365 days a year

sound like a miserable sod but have had a hellish December at work & just can’t be arsed with their shite. To be utterly frank they bore me & just wind me up with their codependent dynamic <backstory of crap childhood etc> just want them to fuck so I can watch Christmas films from the 80s in peace

I was trying to explain this to my kids. I am in my early 50s. Those godwaful Wizard/Slade songs were released when I was 2, Wham/Shaking Stevens when I was about 12. It has been the same shite for the last 40 years, or 50 years.

What other day in the year are you expected to do exactly the same thing as you have done for the past 50 years? And if you DARE to say that actually you're not into Christmas or squealing like toddler over it in about September, you're a bah humbug, Grinch or a scrooge.

Oh no! I hope she's back soon and then grounded for the rest of Christmas ☺️

We've avoided every single minute of generic UK and French TV all day. It really, really helps get through it.

We've also done some pruning of the lime tree which I use for next winters kindling and it is all neatly cut to size and bagged up. Another batch to do tomorrow but it was lovely doing that in the afternoon sun today. Glorious.

She's just crept through the catflap after almost 10 hours, and has retreated to her high bed on the wardrobe. Thank feck. Now I will be able to eat this stupid dinner and have a drink (didn't dare, just in case she came home hurt).

I find it actually extremely dull during the day and overrated for what it is. I love the lights, decorations especially in places like London but that's about it.

It's nearly over. Really boring day. The dcs and I had lunch, a snooze and now we're watching That Christmas

Eldest ds aged 19 hasn't shown his face. Not even for lunch. His depression seems to have taken hold. Tells me to leave him alone. 😞

His dad has really cocked things up for us with violence and financial abuse. So this Christmas was token gifts only with their dad crying somewhere in another city at his gf's house. 🥱

Great news 🙌🙌🙌

Merry Christmas. Got an hour to wait for my bus.

@BogusHocusPocus I hope it's not too cold.. I'd have picked you up if you were local x

That's so kind. Only another thirty minutes now. I was at the wrong bus stop but in very good time for the previous one , and they're an hour apart.

I just want to get home.

Hugs to everyone struggling today. I'm on my own and I hate pp asking me what I'm doing for Xmas, which is nothing. However, I've had a lovely day. I made myself a roast chicken dinner, watched ABBA and Xmas songs on TV, read about all the poor sods on MN having having a stressful day with their awful families, ate dinner whilst watching Strictly, and spent half the day painting a portrait that I'm really pleased with 😁

I think a big part of the problem with Xmas is a combination of the expectations of having a joyful day with the people that you love the most ( which are supposed to be your family ), feeling like a failure if you don't have that, and how it brings up so many memories from the past. Most of the Xmas songs are from decades ago, which reminds us of happier times, of people who are no longer with us, or of when we were younger. It's not surprising really that so many of us feel miserable this time of year!

Sorry to everyone who has struggled today. Hope you can all find a quiet, cosy spot somewhere this evening and some time for yourselves.💐

Been a bit of an odd one here. We found out last week at our 12 week scan that we were having a missed miscarriage of twins. Trying to be as normal as possible around family whilst also apprehensive of what's to come. It'll be a bit of a relief when the whole period is over but then I wonder if it will all become bit more real.

I'm so sorry. What a nightmare xx

You have BUSES on Christmas Day where you are?! Blimey.
Mind you, I spent one Christmas in Switzerland, and the trains were running as normal on Christmas Day. Lots of families were using them to go skiing- it was lovely, far less claustrophobic than the UK. We just went up to Davos and frolicked around in the snow.
Although we don't have buses down here we do have a beautiful coastline, so we went and had a lovely walk on a rugged, deserted bit of coast path, which saved the day really.

We are in rural France and have lived here for 3 years and I have yet to even see a bus. We drive regularly past bus stops just never seen an actual bus.

Hope you got home @BogusHocusPocus and for anyone that needs them. Life is shit sometimes.

Sorry to hear that, it’s tough news at any time of year, somehow feels worse over Christmas😢

I lost one of a twin pregnancy many years ago, it’s a difficult time. I was fortunate and one twin did survive but it was a stressful pregnancy💐

Hope everyone has had a reasonable day. I’m away from home and whilst we have had some laughs today, I can’t wait to get home tomorrow. I will breathe a sigh of relief when I’m home and can relax, knowing it’s over.

What I hate the most about Christmas, are the bloody days afterwards! The loooong non-days on which nothing is open and you're trapped in thanks to the weather. Perhaps it's worse for us lone parents who don't have a DH to spend time with (not that I dislike spending time with DC, of course I do! But only so much!). It gets lonely once your DC reach the stage of only tolerating playing games with mum for so long and want to be sitting upstairs playing games on their own.
I end up aimlessly scrolling, feeling lonely.

Same here. I absolutely feel like this. I just wish things were open like normal.

I go back to work!

I was manipulated into going to my parents, despite saying I wasnt, and it was a fucking disaster.

Ended up with my mother having an epic tantrum, blaming her bad day on me and a sobbing ND 13 year old in my arms.

WE ARE DONE.

I've got no money sent to me this year from my parents because I told the police about their past crimes of molesting children and general abuse.
The children were my brother and I and set to be a new member of my family if I hadn't of reported it.
I told their neighbours and that'll be something they'll be spitting mad at, but it's well deserved and needs to be known about because of other little children on their road.

I've made it through the day with my difficult parents who drink heavily and cause a lot of distress and fear once drunk.

I am carrying out my final cat visit (self employed dog walker and cat sitter) and I can't wait to get home and crawl into bed. The sense of relief is enormous.

Sending love to everyone struggling, especially those for whom the difficulties don't end this evening.