Christmas bliss...?

[astralweaks]

www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

There's nothing like child-free, selfish festivities... and secretly, says ELLEN MANNING, I think all you parents are jealous!

I realise this is from the much revered Daily Mail but do you think this woman has a point? Do you envy the freedom afforded by a child free Christmas?

@astralweaks

YABU. And so is she.

The Daily Mail do love to push stories out from child free women spewing bile about children, parents, and anything to do with children, and telling us all how life is SOOOOOOOOO much better without children.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Christmas was lovely without children, (when me and DH were in our early 20s,) and it's great now they have left, but it was better WITH them. Just so much more fun, lots of games, and silly, childish, 'fun stuff' you could do, that you can't do without a child/children.

I have had Christmas without children, WITH children, then without again. It's definitely better with them. And yes I CAN honestly say that. How does the stupid bint know anyway, if she has never HAD children? She has no right to comment, as she has not seen both sides, like I (and many others) have.

As I said, methinks the lady doth protest too much. Saying people are jealous of her is pathetic and laughable. She sound ridiculous, and like she is trying to kid herself (and everyone else too.)

What's more, am I meant to give a fuck about some random nobody's stupid pointless opinions? Coz I bloody don't. Where DO the Daily Heil find these dreadful pointless individuals? And why do they think anyone cares about their opinions???

Just wanted to add that not ALL child free women spew bile about children and mothers etc... (Most child free women are lovely!)

I just mean the Daily Mail seem to find child free women who seem to insist on spewing bile about children (and mothers,) and how much better THEIR life is than people who have children.

Life in general without kids - I understand. But Christmas? It one of the many perks OF having kids, IMO.

Mistycloud she probably protests because there are forever people asking when she’ll have kids and is fed up being judged. Maybe not but trust me people either think you will change your mind or you’re wrong and judge you. In saying that I don’t understand the need to write the article it is smug and I think neither side have to boast that their lives are better because they have/don’t have kids. Each to their own. It’s just inflammatory and some of the comments underneath are horrid.

Yes and no mainly because my are two young to understand Christmas! So I envy more the break I would of had if I didn’t have very small children, when they are older I can imagine Christmas will be great!

Too young* sorry breastfeeding fog!

Children make Christmas but then I am a bar humbug who thinks that it is too commercial now. I think I would rather go away and miss it all once the magic has gone and the children no longer believe.

I am child free. The Christmas period is pretty restful and I like the down time. But Christmas Day without kids is just another day. I have two nieces and since they came along Christmas Day is much more fun and I love their excitement. Before they were born it was just me, my sister and parents sitting around with paper hats feeling jaded.

Silly article. If one of the joys of having a child free christmas is going to see a Rod Stewart concert she must be pretty desparate.

Having children does not mean never experiencing the joys of a child free christmas.
Having a couple of kids takes up 18 years of your life. We will on average live until we are 80 or so, so that is 60 years of christmas.
Remove the 18 years that we are so "burdened" with children- that leaves 42 adult only christmases.

So it's not as if those of us with kids never experience an adult only christmas, most of us have had many of them before kids came along, and many more once they grow up.

An adult christmas doesn't have to be explained to parents, but I suspect a christmas with children is outwith the understanding of this woman.

Well, we had several all-adult Christmases in our twenties, and our children and niblings are approaching adulthood so we're probably due quite a few more in the next decade. Yes, I enjoyed them a lot. For many of the same reasons that I enjoyed Christmas as a child, and enjoyed Christmas with our children.

Exactly, what you get when you have kids is to experience different phases of Christmas. We have older children now and Christmas is every bit as relaxed as when we were child free. Except better as there are two other lovely young people in the house now in the form of our DDs.

I'm sure Christmas with children is magical, but it can be without them too. Christmas, like everything else in life, is what you make of it. I find people who say there is no point to Christmas without children rather sad to be honest. Even at my advanced age I look forward to it, and would still make it special even if I was totally alone in the world. As for not bothering to celebrate Christmas if you didn't have children - I rather feel you don't understand what Christmas is all about.

Juliette20

Absolutely- my young adult children sleep late, drink bucks fizz for breakfast, keep us laughing with their wit , and are a joy to have around at christmas.

THis is one of the unexpected joys of being a parent- adut children- it's the best of all worlds!

@formerbabe I'm single and childfree and still manage to enjoy Christmas. As I said earlier, it is what you make it.

I'm a true believer that kids make Christmas 10x better. You should've met me pre kids, i didn't even decorate. Now its light everywhere, Christmas movies every, day music blaring. The amount of friends/relatives that have complained "I dont like christmas" or "it's just an excuse to have a party and get drunk" and then they've always ended it with "but it ok for you, you have kids." We've traveled 5 hours to spend this weekend with my father and his wife so they can have Christmas with the children. They've been saying how boring it is now that its just them two.

Yabu for quoting a shite, annually churned out DM article, irrespective of content.

@selmabear I think this says more about you than about adult only Christmases. Christmas used to be a difficult time for me, what with my father dying very close to Christmas when I was a teenager (40 years ago now) and DH and I being unable to have children. But we’ve still managed to make it a special time that we enjoy. We decorate, see friends, buy each other presents and cards (which I know a lot of people with children don’t bother to do), play board games, watch films, go for long walks. We don’t find it boring at all.