To be looking forward to January already

[PaulHollywoodsSexGut]

I swear I’m not a Grinchy McGrinchface but AIBU to sort of wish it was January already?

Being contradictory I hate the counting down nature of the whole of December, every day it’s “X days to Christmas”, the shops are totally spewing tat this year it seems and this being the first year that DD and her chums “get” Christmas a lot of my mum friends are so very stressed about “making it perfect” which makes me sad and despairing in equal measure.

I like the magic of Christmas, carols, nativities, sending cards, decorating the tree etc but it’s been so in my face for I think 3 weeks now I’m kinda done and want the new year to start.*

AIBU?

*im one of these freaks who quite likes January

YABU

I need the Christmas break and wind down!

If it were January already I’d be making myself really ill!

YABU. Christmas is awesome and the build up is the best! I don't let it stress me, it doesn't need to be perfect as the kids will love it regardless and I ignore the shops and what everyone else is doing!! Plus as the poster above said I need the break and the two weeks off work after a horrendously stressful year! (I know not everyone is lucky enough to have the time off). I hate January generally but our life came crashing down around us January this year so I m dreading it even more!!!

Yabu.Im refusing to let myself get stressed over it.Ds is 4,nearly 5 and it's the first year he definitely knows totally what's going on its going to be great

I sort of agree but I’m trying hard to really get into the spirit of it this year as I was so poorly for the whole of Dec last year and couldn’t enjoy any of it.
I do agree that there is a huge pressure on parents these days to make things perfect for their kids and buy them loads of tat that they don’t need though. The true spirit of the day is often lost as it’s all about the presents and food now.

OP I don't have DC but I hate Xmas, have done for a long time.

it's the extended drawn out crap I think, enforced jollity etc etc

I always prefer January, plus the shortest day is behind us then too.

I just ignore all the commercial crap and piles of presents and enjoy the trees, twinkly lights, school related christmas stuff (church, fair etc) films, food, good feeling. It really helps that I don't go shopping, I get stuff online. Hitting crowded shopping centres or cities was always stressful and did make me resent it a bit. I am surrounded by people who have bought a ton of presents already but I just smile along and say a few "wow"s and it doesn't bother me.

also hated being forced to use annual leave when it's cold, dark and most of my friends are away in other parts of the country - total waste.

Just step away from the horrible bits, you really really don’t have to go near the tat and excess. Take the opportunity to clear out your home, set things up nicely and do the things you love. I’m our house, despite 4 kids under 6, elf on the shelf can fuck off, overflowing sofas of tat can fuck off, perfect displays can fuck off. I’m enjoying supergluing all the ornaments the kids are breaking daily and valuing what we have, not buying more of anything.

I hate January when the Christmas lights have gone, but I'm with you about the over hyping of Christmas. I like a gentle build up over advent, and to actually enjoy the Christmas season beyond Christmas Day. I appreciate that it helps that we get Christmas to New Year free.

Christmas feels so premature in recent years. I know the gradual creep has been coming in for a long time... DH has a mid-August birthday and I have had to pass by Christmas cards on the shelf FFS. I actually like Hallowe'en for holding back the Christmas explosion because it just seems to errupt on the 1st of November.

I'm bamboozled by the people that prepare and hype so early and are then fed up and exhausted of the whole thing by the time Christmas has actually arrived.

Do your own thing to the level you are comfortable with and try to let other peoples' hype wash over you.

I didn't mind Xmas when it seemed to start on the 22nd and finish on the 26th.

I cant wait! My work closes over Xmas and new year so it's a lovely break. I dont make a massive thing of Xmas tbh. Decorations aren't up yet, I dont have any parties to go to (not Xmas ones anyway), we don't do lots of stuff in the lead up (bar ice skating and carols), I'm doing a big Xmas eve family lunch but Xmas day is a pj day, no new years party just a couple of friends here. My kids are teens so they dont want to go mad with doing stuff in the lead up luckily. You can make Xmas what you want!

Big high 5s to @AuntiePatricia and @Grace212 because as a PP said one of the good things about January is that the Longest Day is behind us and if all of the crazy Christmas stuff started on the 22nd I’d be cool with that! As hippy as it sounds the Solstice marks a big mental shift for me as I find this time of year too dark and gloomy.

Completely agree with a PP who also said stay the heck away from the town centre: tricky for us as we have to go through it every day to the station and the nursery but agree, the blinkers need to go on from here and everything online from here on in (or procured at 8am on a Tuesday).

I fully accept IABU but it seems that I’m not a megagrinch as consensus appears to be the Christmas jollity tat explosion starts way too early.

And don’t even get me started with elves on shelves - I’ve suspended my social media apps because of those wretched things

"As hippy as it sounds the Solstice marks a big mental shift for me as I find this time of year too dark and gloomy"

I have SAD and although on the worst days it can seem like waiting for April...there are shifts to notice after solstice. Snowdrops, winter irises. the day is getting longer by seconds but by end of Jan, I lift my head at work and think, hmm, it's lighter than it was at 4pm.

and spring suddenly isn't so far away. November and December are really hard for me, and shoving in a bunch of Xmas crap really doesn't help. I've actually given up on gifts and cards as the plastic tat issue was really bothering me. I tried to substitute by saying to friends that we would go out, but it's a nightmare time to go out and I find winter goes faster if you hunker down at night and watch TV (or now I will MN!)

January is such a relief. I try to mark the Solstice by lighting a candle but it feels a bit "ugh..." and the relief only hits on New Year's Eve.

sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack your thread, but it's nice to meet someone who gets why January is good!

Not at all @Grace212

I think we are kindred (hippy?) spirits as I 1,000,000% agree with everything you say in your last post ✌🏼

There's a lot of things I love about Christmas, but other parts of it get me down - the manic shopping, the pressure to meet up with this person and that group, the emphasis on 'stuff' and boozing, the ads and Christmas displays being shoved down your throat from late October.

If I could just focus on the nice things like the Carol Service and popping into the neighbours for a drink and a mince pie and taking the kids ice skating and getting together with family it would be lovely. It's all the extraneous stuff that is draining the magic out of Christmas.

YANBU.

I’m looking forward to escaping to a cottage in the Lakes with DH & DS for five days from the 29th December, we do it every year and it’s heaven.

To just escape the madness, Christmas has never really been my favourite time of year.

My birthday is in January. I love that month. I don't expect extravagant presents (I don't anyway) because no one has spare cash.