Things you don't like about Christmas

[lorettalemon]

I know lots of other people must find it a stressful time - family dramas, having to see in-laws if you don't like them, getting food in, feeling obliged to go to things, the extra expense. If you don't like Christmas what are the things that bother you/you dread?

@speakout hear hear. @Cupcakegirl if you do anything involving tree decorations, house decorations, Santa, feasting, lighting candles or lights, Yule pigs, mince pies, cards you are celebrating a Norse/pagan midwinter festival. So if you are neither pagan or Norse why if you celebrating Yule?

If you go to church on Xmas day you are celebrating a Christian one. You are welcome to that.

I do like sparkly things though even though i dont go to any parties ( thank god). I just imagine December without the lights to be very drab.

Although the idea of a Yule pig is excellent I actually meant Yule log...

On Christmas Day, I hate the food. It's all stuff I'd never choose to eat on any other day, far too heavy and I end up feeling bloated and horrible.

On Boxing Day my heart sinks when I get up and see the 30 presents still lying around that I have to find room for. My house is already full!

Although I take it back. There IS A YULE PIG! AND A YULE GOAT! This from Wikipedia on Yule:

Later departing from its pagan roots, Yule underwent Christianised reformulation, resulting in the term Christmastide. Many present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from pagan Yule traditions.

I'm fucking delighted!

I'm not religious, I think of myself as agnostic. One Christmas while on holiday in a cold snowy country we were out walking and I desperately needed the loo. The only place in sight was a church. We quite brazenly went in and asked if I could use the facilities; we were warmly welcomed and invited to the Christmas Day service. We took up the invitation and it was a beautiful service and a highlight of the trip.

I'm fucking delighted!

The waste
The expense
The weight gain
And the guilt , I wish to give my
Kids the joyful experience and feel I am failing to

@Fishcakey that's me this year. So nervous about it.

In general the hard thing for me with christmas is my OCD. Trusting other people with food and drinks and lots of visiting houses.

All. Of. It. So as I am not obligated (no faith) to "do" it I don't.

Waste, consumerism, plastic tat and the fact it starts in September.

Urgh.

Christmas used to be stressful: the horrendous shopping crowds, consumerism, the heating on too high and my mother. Now we book a few days off before Christmas and make all the presents as a family, dressed as elves (me and dc, dh would rather be dead than dress up) we have eliminated loads of stress and massively increased the festive feeling. Haven't been able to solve the heating or mother problems yet though.

I hate spending money on ungrateful inconsiderate prats because of a sense of duty. I hate that for what I have spent with no thank you what so ever that I could be sat on a beach . I hate that I have worked so hard and put so much thought into their gifts and they disgust me. For example...1 jumper 50.00 1 pair of pjs and chocolates 50.00 1 toy and 1 pair of personalized pjs and chocolates 60.00 x 2 somehow equates to one box of after fucking eights between 4 of us.... times all that by 17 people on HIs side and you will get the drift. I hate being held to ransom by again HIs family..if you dont come and see us you will not get your present eg said after eights well this year no more! I am not going ...I have sent their gifts for the grabby shits to get their hands on and their crappy after eights can stay with them til the 12th of never!!!!! I am a fool to myself I know but I love my dh very much and only do it for him.I know he is ashamed of them too.
Other than that I don;t mind christmas!!!! I love that I can spend a couple of weeks with my daughter with no school runs and long lay ins and tripping off to lunch and having no routine.Time seems to stop and I love that. She is 8 and christmas is still magical for her and I make sure we make the most of it.
Oh and I forgot...celebrity perfume...If anything appears in my stocking from Beyonce or Britney Spears I will sling it out of the nearest window be that open or not!!!!!!! Just no!! Please no....mother!!!!!

Christmas won't be happening in my house as my DS tragically died last week.

I can't imagine Christmas being the same ever again.

Hate, one boring day then we can get our life back. It is all about getting people to spend too much money they will need to pay back next year.

I get really down over my lack of choice. I work in the NHS but I do get Xmas day, boxing day and NY day off. Because its a busy time of year we have to take it in turns to take time off around the xmas period.

My dh work closes over the xmas period so he gets 2 weeks off which i would love!

Every year is the same. I feel obliged to go to one of the family xmas day, boxing day we have to go to MILs and NYE is DH grandparents in the evening.

So any time off I have is taken!

One year though I had had enough. I refused to leave the house and had a blissful quiet Xmas and boxing day home alone (well with my dog!) i stayed in bed late, watched trashy tv and ate cereal for xmas dinner :D boxing day was much the same and it was amazing. 2 days of slouching around in pyjamas and having a much needed rest before heading back to work.

This year ... having to entertain my family, my (adult) kids, my stbexh, when I would rather be 150 miles away . But usually I don't mind Christmas, I like cooking and entertaining.

I may be spending more time hiding away upstairs on the phone like a teenager than being sociable this year! (He's being dutiful and going to his ex wife and kids too, duty calls!)

Crazyladee I am very sorry for your loss .

Another reason I don't like this time of year, people going through terrible heartbreak, including a family I know who sadly lost someone last week.

All the waste from wrapping and packaging
All the waste from unwanted gifts
All the expense that seems unnecessary
The stress of so many extra social events
Trying to fit in seeing everyone I actually want to around this
Too many toys given to child which we have no space for and seems to turn him into the devil for the short term

The adverts of the perfect family Christmas with enough food to feed the street.
Wrapping presents and then the ripped off paper having to be disposed of.
Christmas cards. I'm sending 6 this year and I hate displaying the ones I have received.
People asking "are you ready for Christmas?"
People wishing me a Merry Christmas and worse a Happy New Year up until the end of January.
Tacky, crappy ill thought out presents that go to charity in the new year.

I love wearing my Christmas hat though. It is black and white and has Bah Humbug written on it.

I just don’t get it why celebrate the birth of Jesus if you don’t believe

But many celebrate as Yuletide the midwinter festival?

It's the shopping madness, the food shop especially, the amount of extra that gets bought the extra trips to get it.
My food shop gets done attve same time, with a few different things some extra treats that's it. But the shops are busier trolleys piled high with booze sweets etc I just look in wonder if I'm missing something.

Oh @Crazyladee I am so, so sorry. I just can't imagine.

I can't stand the stuff it generates. We have a small house that already needs decluttering, that will now have to house more things we neither want or need. And getting DH to take anything to the charity shop is impossible because "great auntie Doris gave us that, we can't possibly give it away", even though we'll never use it. I have to wait 3 months and then sneak it out. The fact that both sets of grandparents see Christmas as a competition of who can give the kids the biggest thing/pile of tat doesn't help either.

Crazyladee so sorry to hear your dad news