‘I’m not a Christmas person’

[Theanswerisblowinginthewind]

I keep hearing this a lot recently.

If you’re not a Christmas person, why?

Completely understand that it’s difficult for some people at this time of year with loved ones having passed etc. But if it’s not something understandable like that, why don’t you like Christmas?

I love it more now I have a Dd, but even before that I loved the lights, tree, presents, food, going out etc-what’s not to love?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry - meant to refer to Christmas Eve BOXES...!!!

I have two DC (5 and 3) and I am slowly warming to Christmas. Actually I would say that I'm quite excited about it - started planning their presents and Christmas activities in September

As a teenager though I wasn't particularly a fan - my parents were alcoholics (and my father was a particularly nasty one) and they used Christmas as an excuse to start drinking at 10am (as opposed to 4pm 🙄) so would often be passed out on the sofa by mid-afternoon.

A particularly miserable affair in my late teens/early 20s after my sister had moved out and I was still living at home when it was just myself and them.

I remember one delightful Christmas Day evening in my bedroom listening to the Darkness and self-harming.

Terrible music, forced jollity, pressure to get presents people will like, questioning myself if my kid has “enough”, money struggles, the fact that I’m not religious, the endless “countdown to Xmas” which seems to start earlier each year, having to faff around with the Xmas tree knowing full well the bloody cat is only gonna knock it over.

And the implication that I’m a grumpy git if I complain about any of the above around people who love Xmas.

I dislike it. Once my parents are no longer with us I will stop marking it at all.

I'm already tired of the ghastly Christmas music before December even starts.

It's a lot of hassle and hard work for what is just a fancy Sunday lunch.

Trying to get presents that people actually want and won't be discarded immediately and the trips to the charity shop to pass on those we won't ever use.

I do think its particularly hard on people without a family or network and on single parents. Everything about it is designed to emphasise that family is the "right" way to live. I don't really get why anyone wouldn't understand that? It's so obvious.

I've always liked it -- even in the aftermath of my marriage breaking up I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who love me, for which I'm grateful.

But it does feel like a real "fuck you" to people who are on their own or whose lives don't fit the template. I'm not surprised at all that it upsets or depresses people.

I enjoy it now the DC are older but found it really stressful when the DC were young. When I was with their Dad, Christmas was always awful as he would drink heavily and he would become abusive. For many years after we split, I found it really lonely being on my own with them, and it was a lot of pressure trying to find these money to buy them presents.

It's very easy to enjoy Christmas when you're financially comfortable and surrounded by loving family.

Initially started to dislike Christmas because I had to work 24 hour shifts every other year it took the magic away. Then in 2019 my grandfather passed away Christmas Eve which was my mams birthday then in 2020 my mam passed away. I have a small child so I have to make the effort but really hate Christmas now.

I like Christmas but suspect I'd love it if I had children of my own. It all seems rather pointless really when one is alone.

@Dillydollydingdong

The older you get, the more Christmases you've had to live through, the more bored you get with it all..

THIS. But according to another thread, expect your adult children to abandon you if you don't see decorate/ have a sparkly tree and all the trimmings because it's not allowed not to celebrate in the socially approved way

The expense, the indulgence, the enforced fun, too many people to be comfortable in my own house, Turkey is awful
It's 2 months of hype and expectation for one big meal and a pile of tat.
I've told my family they can all naff off this year, I'm spending it alone with my lovely partner. I'm FINALLY really looking forward to it

I have a challenging family dynamic and its the one time of year I am forced to see my sister if I want to see my DM (they live together)

I find her absolutely unbearable. She is a sinister bully and so Christmas Day is about surviving her.

I'm also single and childless so I feel like I'm outside looking in, really.

I like Carols though

Having a small, and getting smaller, family and a grown up DC means that Christmas is very quiet and underwhelming for us these days. There are just three of us for Christmas as we have no-one else.

I am not a Christmas person.

It's a shit time of year, it's cold and very dark. On 25th December in Glasgow we get fewer than 7 hours of daylight. That's a lot of dark. I don't do cosy, and hygge, and snuggling, and hot chocolate and all of that shit.

I don't need any gifts, I don't want any gifts and I can't be arsed shopping for gifts.

We have nice food all year round, Christrmas is no different.

Roll on 1st January and new beginnings.

I'm not a Diwali person or a Thanksgiving person... As in, I don’t do them, never have, why should I... right?

I happen to be a Christmas person, but nobody should have to justify why they don't do Christmas, surely?

After I became a lone parent Christmas was a painful reminder of what I didn’t have - you are supposed to be all cheery with a loving family around you, but for many people that’s not the reality.

I would like it a lot if it just lasted a week maximum rather than dragging on for several months.

I used to work for a newspaper and one horrendous year the sales team put up a tree in September with all the decorations to encourage selling the Christmas advertising.

Every chuffing time you went into the office that bloody tree was dominating the room.

By the time Christmas actually came round I was heartily sick of the whole thing. Worst Christmas I've ever had, don't think I've ever recovered!

Rampant commercialism
Cost
Work
Sheer unadulterated tackiness
People forgetting what it's reallysupposed to be about
Most of all, the expectation that we are all supposed to like the same things - what happened to individuality and being allowed to be different?

Seroously, if I could cancel December every year, I would.

I’m definitely not a ‘Christmas person’, for the following reasons :

1, I’m childfree by choice. So much of Christmas is about children, so it seems ridiculous to make a big deal of it for just the two of us.

2, I’m not religious. Been there, done that, binned it as a teenager.

3, I strongly dislike pointless, wasteful, greed-driven environmentally destructive consumerism.

4, I’m just so completely sick & tired of the whole bloody thing and everything which surrounds it. Festive tat in supermarkets in August. Total crap on the telly. The same dozen tired, boring songs on repeat every fucking year. Etc etc etc.

Christmas should be like the World Cup or the Olympics. Once every four years.

I would like it a lot if it just lasted a week maximum rather than dragging on for several months.

This ^^ as well.

"I'm also single and childless so I feel like I'm outside looking in, really."

@MySisterTotallyIs My god, that's exactly what it feels like!

This is an interesting and rather sad thread. I have got less bothered about Christmas as Ive got older and I think like many other people it's because the hype begins in October. For the past few years Ive been looking at Halloween and Christmas decorations which sit side by side in the shops. When I worked in retail it was worse and Id heard so much Christmas music I was sick of it. The Christmas spirit was zero as the abuse we would get from customers was unreal, probably because they were stressed out. Id like to see a law like is it in Sweden? Not a decoration to be seen till December 1st. To my mind that is the beginning of the Christmas season. As for these Christmas Eve boxes, who thought that up? Is Christmas not expensive enough for young families?

For me, it is dark, cold, wet , bleak, expensive, pressured, over hyped. Give me a day in june

We dont have to have a 'valid' traumatic reason not to like Christmas

Some of us just don't

For me it's for a combination of reasons

I think that the problem about Christmas in this country is that you can’t escape it, and that the day itself is so uncommunal. Everything closes, public transport stops, the streets are deserted with everyone shut in with their families. Basically, it’s lockdown with crackers 😬 So much fun if you don’t happen to like your family!

I am very thankful that where I live now the local pub- which is a mile outside the village- has open house on Christmas Day morning, so everyone walks down and has a drink and a socialise, which makes things a bit less claustrophobic.

I spent a Christmas in Switzerland once, and on Christmas Day the trains were running, and full of people going skiing up in the mountains. Now that would be a way better way to spend the day!