Christmas - I just don’t get it?

[BasinHaircut]

I am 40 years old and I still don’t get why people go mad for Christmas.

Im not talking about religious aspects, and of course kids love the idea of Santa etc, but for everyone else I just don’t get it.

I try really hard every year to get into the spirit but I haven’t yet found something that ignites a spark.

I go through the motions for my son and we have our ‘traditions’ like going to the panto, seeing the lights etc, but I just cannot get excited about any of it.

Is it just me?

'Everything was open as normal and the beaches were full'

Perfect! Enjoy 👍

I absolutely love Christmas. However you'll find comfort with the inordinate amount of Christmas haters on MN! Its a current trend you know, like the cost of living crisis they all bleat on about 🐑🐑🐑 😂

I hear tell the cost of living crisis is really hard hitting people especially those with sudden mortgage hikes. So it's not really bleating is it?

Xmas a person can make their own mind up and it's personal choice.

This sort of attitude pisses me off no end. The idea that the people who don't go giddy over Christmas must be "sad". No acceptance whatsoever that some people don't like the same things as you. Or that "magical" means different things depending who you talk to.

@BasinHaircut I don't get it either! Just do it for the kids.

It's something I hope I can always do for my kids. I'd love to be the Christmas home they all come to on Christmas Day. I want to be the mum rushing around making a big dinner for them, their children and husbands!

I don't come from that kind of thing so I would like to experience it and offer it to my kids xxx

For me, it is a really welcome distraction to see us through the darkest shortest days of winter. Loads of distracting planning that keeps us moving our bodies and using our minds instead of vegging in semi-hibernatory mode. Lots of contact with family and friends to prevent us from getting too isolated. Treats to look forward to - presents and outings and good food and wine. By the time January comes, I'm ready for a purge of healthy foods and walks and no booze, and then the first signs of spring appear. Whether you are Christian or pagan or atheist it's a brilliant invention.

I think I'd feel very differently if I lived in Australia. It would seem an unnecessary faff there in the height of summer.

Yeah I saw that at the packed Tesco, M and S, Waitrose and Christmas markets Ive visited in the last couple of weeks 😳

But I agree the mortgage hikes have been viscous and rates hopefully on the turn 🤞🏼🤞🏼

I am a primary school teacher. Christmas mania starts at the beginning of December - parties, outings, concerts, decorations, card making etc etc etc. Kids going mental, no actual work done ... then the holidays come and it starts allover again at home with gifts to buy and wrap, cards to send, family outings, relatives visiting, food to buy and prepare. House looks like a bomb site. By the time the actual day comes I just want to crawl into a hole and tell everybody to feck off. Next year I am going on holiday to a faraway Muslim country where they don't celebrate Christmas. I wish ...

See, I despise the short dark days that hit us from clocks changing at the end of October so it feels that it is Christmas and all the brightness and excitement that goes with it that pulls me through November and December.

The lights and decorations in particular are vital to my mental well-being in November and December which is why we decorate the house very early. Being surrounded by twinkling fairy lights lifts my mood no end. In the lockdown years I actually kept the Christmas tree up until the start of February for that very reason!

Although I opt out of any work Secret Santas etc I actually enjoy Christmas meals out with work and family and friends too. Feels like a good way to bond with people more and get to know them better outside of the usual work setting. The DCs get so much pleasure out of their Christmas events at school and clubs.

Getting the tree and other decorations up early helps get me in the festive spirit earlier which prompts me to start buying (and then wrapping) presents earlier which prevents a feeling of panic close to Christmas and means I can just enjoy December and the sense of good cheer.

We don’t go overboard and have cut down drastically on gift spending. I refuse to martyr myself on Christmas Day being stuck in the kitchen for hours so even though we always host quite a lot of people for lunch I happily buy ready prepared/ frozen Yorkshire puddings, parsnips and roast potatoes even though some would no doubt turn their noses up at.

I appreciate that some people are in difficult family situations but for my family it feels a huge treat to get 2 bank holidays in a row to enable us to spend time together and in fact the tradition brings us together naturally. We had a fab yesterday with lots of laughter and merriment. Of course there were things that went wrong- a teething toddler spent much of the day needing to be soothed, ASD son found a few things hard to cope with and there is always the memory of a loved one who dined far too soon a few years ago at Christmas time. But Christmas, like many things in life, is what we make of it in many regards.

The thing with Christmas in a non religious sense is other than date it happens - there are no rules.
You can do what you want and not do what you don't like.
I like the pretty sparkly lights - both inside my own home and outside. It's winter - it's dark so I like the light , the colours and it's pretty. I like silly decorations and making my own. The tree is "my thing".
I am not interested in or like Christmas Dinner. My husband cooks one so that's "his thing'.
(I eat something else)
Anything you don't find "magical" you don't have to do.

I need Halloween and then Christmas to motivate myself through the start of Winter. I treat Christmas as a winter festival. We don't do adult presents and decide on what we are all doing/eating. Christmas eve and Christmas day have been buffets this year. I've cooked a turkey for rolls. We all work across social/health care, so have a few meet ups. Without the availability of the pantos/shows/markets/fairs, November to January would be a bit shit. A lot of people need to simplify, stand up for themselves and only give what they are prepared to.

Agree with this as one could say the same about any type of experience. Climbing mount everest might be magical or my version of living hell. Going to Disney World might be magical or my version of a living hell. Etc. Who knows. Each to their own.

Yup!!!

This absolutely!!

I can not bare Christmas!

When my kids are adults I hope to opt out.
This is my first Christmas without them (they are with dad) and sitting in silence with in laws over brown food (same for 60 years) it makes me feel aggressive.
It makes no bloody sense. These people aren’t even ‚celebrating‘ anything. FFS

Exactly this

Not just you . I used to get so excited for Christmas but lost the Christmas spirit and get that people go mad for it. I guess it's just the tradition, good food and family all together that make it special. I had a great day yesterday with my family, it's the atmosphere but if it wasn't for family I wouldn't be too fussed about it either

I think my problem with it is the same-ness of it all. I am 50. I have had the same Christmas 50 times now. Same shitty music with Noddy Holder and Shakin Stevens for the last 40 years. This year's Christmas no 1 was Wham - which was a hit 39 years ago. Same food. Same routine. It's just so DULL. What other day of the year is it expected that you do exactly the same thing, every year, for your entire life?

I agree @CoatOfArms , it's broadly the same old shit every year. Yes you can start your own traditions etc and ditch the stuff you don't enjoy, but it's bloody everywhere. If I had to listen to one more conversation on the radio about how to do 'the perfect roast potatoes', I was going to scream!

At least the Mariah Carey and Wham Christmas songs will fuck off for another year now. I agree it is the sameness of it all.

I don't think that Christmas has ever been a time of fasting though - even for most practicing Christians . That would be covered by lent. Christmas is a festival, a celebration and at a time of the year when there was already a pagan celebration. It's meant to be a joyful time (and obviously isn't for many I get that - but I don't think it was ever a time for quiet fasting).

Young-ish. No presents was her choice this year as she said we treated her loads anyway.

😬

Someone not personally enjoying a festive season is quite understandable; whether because they are in difficult circumstances or have bad associations. Not being able to understand why others can enjoy time spent with family and friends, good food and drinks, gifts from loved ones, events they personally choose to go to (panto, ice skating, grotto, light display, carols, church service, whatever), excited kids etc. Well, that is really odd actually, and for most you is presumably because you think it's trendy to say so rather than having a real inability to understand happiness. If you genuinely are in such a dark place that you can't fathom why another person might like any of those things, then you should consider how to better address your mental health.

I get excited for it mostly for the children- first my Nieces and nephews, but now for my own son (this was only his second one). I think it's the same for a lot of adults. Before children, I only really got excited as a child.

I'm the same op. As a child I loved it but as an adult I just don't get it. I had a fun day yesterday with family and had a lovely roast dinner but we can do that any Sunday.