To friggin hate Christmas?

[Iliveinazoo]

I'm sorry that this isn't in the Christmas topic, seems little point moaning about Christmas there.

It's not actually Christmas that I hate, but all of the commercialised enforced buying.

I love decorating the tree, the fairy lights, having delicious food, excited children, Christmas television, a few days off, Christmas parties.

What I hate is the fact that it's October, I'm trying to enjoy Autumn, and every day I'm getting texts from grown adults asking me what I want for Christmas, and putting their orders in for what they want, sending me links to stuff I can buy them and I'm supposed to think of something for them to buy me back.

It's such bullshit, most of us have far too much 'stuff' already.

I know I sound like a right Scrooge but I do see a lot of it as being so wasteful, every Christmas we end up with piles of packaging and plastic that we don't even want or need.

I have managed to cut back on gift buying etc. but Christmas is still a depressing time of year for me.

I have very little family left and will have to have a tense negotiation with ex about where the DCs will be on what days over Christmas. Given that we aren't on speaking terms and NYE is the anniversary of when he walked out on us for OW this is difficult. The days I do not have the children I will spend alone on enforced, wasted time off from work, as my office closes over the period.

I would go abroad to avoid the whole thing, but that would mean leaving my elderly mum completely alone. She is not well enough to travel.

As soon as the Christmas machine starts in earnest after Halloween, my mood plummets. This time of year reminds me of everything I have lost through either breavement or divorce.

Why not txt them back and say your not going to buy presents for Adults just children this year!!

Booie09 the issue with that is families were only one or two people have kids and the rest are adults without children.
I tried this one year and got told, that’s not fair as we all buy for your children and but I’m single and have no one, so who will buy a gift for me, but I’m expected to spend money on the kids?! I’ve tried to tell them they don’t have to buy the kids anything, but they’re having none of it.

Sorry I meant where

Whatever you do, don't turn this morning on! Best festive food. It's bloody OCTOBERRRR!

Missillusioned I feel your pain - It's just a time of the year that serves as a terrible reminder of loss and unhappiness.

Christmas brings me mixed feelings as I lost my mum a few days before Christmas- but I don't let that spoil things for my dgc.
I hate the over commercialism and the huge pressure that puts on families and the waste!
In recent years we have cut right back - presents for children and just small gifts for adults. I only buy for my adult dc and one elderly aunt. We look for something unusual or that they would like, for example a vintage book or the watercolour picture I found at a junk shop.
As for the food, we have nice food and wine yes, we all muck in to prepare it, but much less than we used to. No one cares that you have bought the pudding or that you don't have 10 different types of cake for Boxing Day.

So as a nice couple of days with some good food and the kids? Great.
The huge build up, enormous present buying splurge, binge eating, commercialised spendfest?
Hate it.

Yes, Christmas can be a very difficult and lonely time for some people. In previous decades they only had to suffer the hype and build up for a few weeks, but now they're bombarded with reminders from late Oct on. and this must be a hard few months for anyone who finds Christmas a sad and unhappy time to navigate.

It is entirely optional!

Ah @stressedwoman actually I'm starting to allow myself to eat festive food now! Not the really special stuff but the odd mince pie and mulled wine, because I love it and if you save all until Christmas week you don't get a lot of time to enjoy it! Plus Halloween is the time of year for that sort of thing anyway in my head 

@Ninoo25 they need to grow up.

I hate Christmas. Everything about it - the expectation to be somewhere you don't want to be, the decision of which family to be with (or God forbid we have Christmas on our own as a little family), all the extra dates to do stuff, the organising, on top of work and family stuff already. It's awful. I have to really, really dig deep to get motivation to make it special for the DC. I'd be happy with a church service. That's it. No tree faff, no lights, no nothing. It just really raises my hackles. If we had the money and the guts, we'd be joining Simon Cowell and the rest of the celebs in Barbados instead.

Ahhh Christmas...the only time of year I spend hundreds of pounds and waste hours of my time on and with people I really dislike!

@Devillanelle You're not wrong! Very excited to see mince pies in the shops!

We don't do Christmas much really. Just the two of us for Christmas Dinner and it is bliss. Family visit us before lunch and that is nice, but we are terrible at visiting them, but it doesn't matter to anyone. No one minds anyone doing their own thing on the day. Fab family of free thinkers helps though!

I am laughing at ADULTS who get the hump because presents are for under 18s only. Honestly what kind of immaturity and foot stamping is that!

We agreed years ago to only buy for under 18s anymore. I think everyone breathed a sigh of great relief actually. It makes buying gifts so much easier as kids are a bit easier to buy for than adults IMO.

We do go to midnight Mass (which is at eight o clock ha ha) and have a drink in the pub on the way home.

I throw up a few bits of decorations for the kids visiting on Christmas Day, they go up Christmas Eve and down Boxing Day. Then we go to the Canaries on 27th for a week. I know we are fortunate to be able to do this. We have no children.

I think it is worse for people who do not like Christmas but are forced into false jollity TBH.

None of the commercial shit is essential or even relevant to Christmas.
For Christians, Advent is a season of mindfulness and spiritual preparation for the birth of our saviour, (rather like the period of fasting in Lent, in the run up to Easter), not a booze and food fest.
You don’t have to engage with any of the ghastliness pushed at you by adverts and shops!

Go to a carol service, or attend the Watchnight service on Christmas Eve, share the mystical wonder as midnight strikes and we share the peace by hugging each other in the congregation.
Have a lovely time with family and friends, go for a country walk while the roast is in the oven.
Don’t waste weeks and small fortunes on buying and wrapping presents nobody wants. Give money to charities in your family’s name instead. Think of how much more joy you’ll cause by giving a village a safe water supply, or immunising third world children against diseases, rather than handing out plastic tat to be broken by Boxing Day.
Christmas is what you make it. Celebrating the birth of Jesus has nothing to do with shopping, and is far more joyful and meaningful.

OP, how about wrapping up a 'voucher' inviting friends/family to an evening at yours over the Xmas period, or in January when it all feels a bit flat?

You could pre warn people you aren't doing traditional present giving this year but giving them your time instead.

I was discussing this with my 21 yr old son. We decided our perfect Christmas would be a quite day of food, carols, reading and just hanging out with close family. There is an 11 yr old sister, so that won’t work just yet as she loves all the sparkle, glitter and gifts. We may revisit this plan in 7 more years..

Babdoc - well said.

I have a widowed father and two siblings with spouses and kids. I am widowed and childless. I have hosted Christmas for everyone for the last couple of years and my brother and sister made it clear that it was presents for children only. So I though put fine and bought presents for the children and something small for my dad that he had wanted for ages. On the day the children got their presents. My brother and sister got presents from their spouses and their children. Dad got presents from the grandchildren and me. I got nothing.
It hurt.

advent calendars for pets

I bought one for my dogs one year. The buggers stole it and ate all the treats on the first day!

We do secret Santa for the adults - it means one present to buy Then something small and practical for the children. This year the Nieces and nephews are getting pyjamas
From me
Did away with the crazy manic over buying of tat no one wants years ago

I'll admit to spending two whole pounds on an advent calendar for the cats last year. We had 7 at the time (some were fostered) and the plan was to give them one treat each, once a week on the run up to Christmas.

But despite the buggers mugging me and rooting through the bag it was in when I brought it home (it had catnip in) when it was time to dish out the treats, they didn't like them and I shoved it in the back of the cupboard where their food lives. I only pulled it out to go in the bin a few weeks ago and while it was sitting on the side waiting to go in the bin, one of them ripped it apart to again decide he didn't like the treats inside it.

The title of this thread makes me smile, because I used to know someone who said, "I fucking hate Christmas!" I might just be me...

• It might just be me...