To think life would be better without Christmas

[MyDogsPaws]

I really hate Christmas, I know I’m probably in the minority but it’s October and I’m already worried and stressed about it and I suspect I’m not alone!

If it was just a case of putting a tree and a few lights up and having your family round for dinner in the 25th I would absolutely love it, I’d start thinking about it in December and look forward to having a nice day with my family. Unfortunately it’s not like this, there is fucking Santa and all that entails, school Xmas shows and needing to get time off work for it all, the cost of everything and being skint for the entire winter because i have to spend every penny I earn on presents or visiting Santas ducking grotto, or buying outfits for Xmas parties, and all the rest of it.

Yes I could just tell my kids there’s no such thing as Santa and all they’re getting is an orange and a book this year but that’s not going to stop them feeling left out when everyone else in primary school got a iphone 15 or whatever.

I really believe that Xmas makes life less enjoyable, not more and I’d quite happy ban it it, tinsel and all, for the rest of eternity, AIBU?

Elf on the Shelf is EVIL more pressure on mums on a daily basis, it's horrible, we did it about twice!!!!

I’ve always kept it quite simple and continued the small traditions I had as a child. I don’t put my tree up until I want to rather than feel forced to put it up in Oct/November because of social media. I refuse to feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing on those perfect fake Insta accounts and I have always felt happier for it.

@Longtimelurkerfinallyposts Christmas is as much a cultural celebration as a religious one. I celebrate it as a winter festival, as many do. It was a pagan celebration. The Christian church hijacked it.

Yabu. Your christmas can be very special without being materialistic snd hugely stressful. Youre choosing that.

@MyDogsPaws

well it’s either that or giving him a mince pie and I don’t really want to buy mince pies

Just do the bits you enjoy. Forget about the rest.

plan throughout the year, get item's when its sales or bargains, shop and plan in advance ?

Plan throughout the year? Nooooooo!!!! Then I'll never get away from it. I'd like to hibernate from 21 Dec to 31 Jan, when the days get a bit lighter.

STFU! Scrooge!

Read the room.

You do have control over every bit of this. You're doing things you don't want to, and you don't have to do that. Why go along? Do what makes you and your family happy. If that means materialism then you've made your bed on that one.

We will not entertain Elf on the Shelf. The tree doesn't go up until December. We do not go OTT on presents, either the volume or the amount we spend. We most certainly do not go into a penny of debt to fund Christmas. The four of us spend Christmas morning together (the children are 3 and 7). In past years we had Christmas dinner at Granny's, last year, she went to another child's house and it was just the four of us, low key. Children love the excitement of advent calendars, a token gift on Christmas Eve and their presents on Christmas Day. It's truly magical for them and that's why I enjoy Christmas.

The Christmas thread is further along. Off you pop.

My life would be crap without Christmas I absolutely love everything about it. I love the Christmas markets, Panto, Winter wonderland. Cannot wait.

I agree. Any mentioned should be banned until December. It’s been ruined by the commercialised, over hyped shit show it’s become.

It became really apparent when I went to Spain the week before Christmas ( they celebrate on the 6th Jan). The city was all lit up, streets and shops were beautiful with decorations but there was no panic buying, tons of traffic or endless buy this 3 for 2 crap. It was calm, cold, twinkly magic. Got off plane back at Gatwick and it was back to endless ads, Christmas music and everywhere was manic.

Christmas was always so much more fun when it wasn't down to me to plan, organise, buy everything and be the sole point of responsibility of everyone's enjoyment of it all.

Sorry for long post but following on from what @Ponoka7 said I googled and found this (below).
I think it's important to remember this was originally a people's celebration/marking of the mid-winter - not a religious festival at all.... hence decorated trees, holly and ivy, dried fruit puddings etc. None of this is anything to do with Christianity - it was all to do with ancient midwinter festival and therefore can be celebrated (in the non-Christian ways) by any religion in any way people like. Also, as an aside due to reading this - it seems panto was invented by the Romans. Who knew? Anyway:

''The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world.
Ancient people were hunters and spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.
The ancient Romans also held a festival to celebrate the rebirth of the year. Saturnalia ran for seven days from the 17th of December. It was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Men dressed as women and masters dressed as servants. The festival also involved decorating houses with greenery, lighting candles, holding processions and giving presents.
The Winter Solstice falls on the shortest day of the year (21st December) and was celebrated in Britain long before the arrival of Christianity. The Druids (Celtic priests) would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.
It was also the Druids who began the tradition of the yule log. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year.
Many of these customs are still followed today. They have been incorporated into the Christian and secular celebrations of Christmas.''

I'm with you there. Always glad when its over.

Same. It was our first Christmas not having to travel to someone. My DH and I have been together for 13 years and I had been travelling for Christmas since 2004 so 16 years of taking a bus or train to see family, often 5+ hours one way (many of those years begrudgingly). Family that don’t do any travelling for Christmas have no idea how exhausting and expensive it gets. Doing it with children in tow adds extra time on, getting them used to new surroundings , watching their every move in someone’s home, trying to get them to bed, etc.

It was nice not to have to sort out anything, no extra expenses, and we could do whatever we want including nothing. Since then, we decided we’re going to stay home every other Christmas except for this year where we’re staying home for the second year in a row. The cost is too much for us and the amount of stops we would need to do and god knows what traffic would make it likely 7+ hours one way.

You need to do Christmas the right way for you, if you're not enjoying it you're free to change it.

I love it. We don't do many things other families do because we do it our way but we have a brilliant time.

We celebrate Yule but it’s a very pared down festival compared with Christmas.

Christmas I could well do without but I could certainly get behind a revival of Saturnalia!

And overall we need Christmas or equivalent - it has been around for so long because the darkest bit of the year needs some light.

@MyDogsPaws I've celebrated the solstices (and equinoxes) many times.
Totally different thing.
Yes, most non-equatorial cultures have seasonal celebrations at the darkest/ coldest time of the year - many of them are very different to Xmas as it's done by the majority of people in the UK though.

You're not on your own.

I start to feel like someone is sitting on my chest from late October and the weight is only lifted the moment I wake up Boxing Day.

People will say 'dial it back', 'don't spend as much', but it's really difficult to do so when there's so much expectation from everyone else. If I know someone is going to spend loads on me, they won't be told bloody no, how do I not feel a giant tit on Christmas Day when I've got them a candle?
For those with kids (I don't yet, thank god), it's like a competition for who can make the most 'special' Christmas - usually involves a whole lot of planning and money spent. How can anyone say 'oh I'm sorry we didn't do any activities this year, and you barely got any presents, mummy was tired and skint', when someone in their class went to Lapland and their cousin got 12 new Apple gadgets.

I wanted to do Christmas on my own last year - just chill at home and eat cheese and watch peep show. Ignore it essentially. I was pressured out of bed by people projecting their 'it's sad to spend Christmas on your own' onto me.

It's a whole lot of pressure and loses its meaning in the commercialism. I would honestly delete Christmas if I could

Totalling agree. Most people complain they're skint and fat in January, then the cycle begins again