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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not be excited about light nights and summer?

251 replies

hermithead · 31/03/2024 19:24

I keep seeing posts on SM about how the light nights are here, and the better weather.

I know this is obviously preferred by a lot of people.

Personally, I'm feeling a little like I'll need to force myself to embrace that.

I've been enjoying going out a walk in the dark, knowing I'll bump into few people and that I can hide under heavy coat and hat.

It's more acceptable to stay home for days on end in the winter, and I'm all for that.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it when I do get out and socialise, etc, but at the moment I'm feeling like it's something I'll need to really gear up to.

Am I weird? Or are there others like me?

OP posts:
MustBeGinOclock · 31/03/2024 23:51

I'm with you op.

IloveAslan · 01/04/2024 00:15

Half of MN seems to be like you OP! While I have met a few people who say they quite like winter, I've yet to hear anyone rave about it the way they do on here.

We have just left summer behind here and personally I can't wait for the next one, especially as February and March weren't as warm as normal. I could perhaps cope if we saw the sun, but grey days just depress me - as do dark nights.

PolarPandaBear · 01/04/2024 00:17

I've never liked summer

IloveAslan · 01/04/2024 00:21

Viviennemary · 31/03/2024 21:53

I quite like winter and nights in. Summer is for younger folk.

Well I'm 64 and I like summer. My late DM hated winter, as did some of her friends, and they were in their 80s (and I daresay winters here are less gloomy than they are in the UK).

Why on earth is summer for younger folk??? As for all this nonsense about having to socialise or stay in - no-one has to do either if they don't want to.

IloveAslan · 01/04/2024 00:27

I think it depends on your personality. If, like me you are happy in your own company most of the time,then Winter is great for just doing things on your own

I'm happy in my own company most of the time. I hate the colder months, and spend no more time with others in summer than I do in winter. However I do like to be out and about a lot, and dull grey days don't give me much motivation to do so. I'm going to have to force myself to go out for a walk today- if it was a sunny and warm day I would have already been out by now.

KittenKins · 01/04/2024 01:24

I get it. You are not alone.

In the winter months people long to be inside in the warmth, watching bad weather as it hits rather than experiencing it first hand.

I'm laying in my bed (I'm disabled) feeling a tiny bit smug.

Come spring I love to hear the children playing outside l, people cutting the grass & having BBQs, but it makes me sad as I'm not living life.

JMSA · 01/04/2024 02:19

I know exactly what you mean and feel the same.
I loved going to work in the dark, weirdo that I am.

coxesorangepippin · 01/04/2024 02:22

This time of year is great

Getting warmer, more sun, light nights but dark by 8, no midges

DappledThings · 01/04/2024 06:53

JMSA · 01/04/2024 02:19

I know exactly what you mean and feel the same.
I loved going to work in the dark, weirdo that I am.

I do too. It's just a tiny bit more exciting leaving the house while it's still dark. Getting to the office while it's still dark too, it just feels a bit cool. Doing it all in daylight is just ordinary.

JJathome · 01/04/2024 07:44

IloveAslan · 01/04/2024 00:15

Half of MN seems to be like you OP! While I have met a few people who say they quite like winter, I've yet to hear anyone rave about it the way they do on here.

We have just left summer behind here and personally I can't wait for the next one, especially as February and March weren't as warm as normal. I could perhaps cope if we saw the sun, but grey days just depress me - as do dark nights.

I do wonder if many of the people who are like this are very introverted and don’t like going out. There seems to be a lot of comments around staying home, shutting the curtains, feeling like everyone else is living their best life in summer, not liking the perceived expectation to go out, not wanting to go out, hearing others out having fun. You feel more normal in winter, as everyone is home doing the same.

the other main issue seems to be struggling with heat and summer clothes, often but not always weight related, where you can’t cover up and hide as much if you feel that way about yourself. So again you feel more normal and comfortable in winter as everyone is dressed the same.

these seem to be the two main drivers, and because of that, we are unlikely to come across people who articulate it in real life, as either the first crowd is home as much as possible, and the second doesn’t really want to tell folks either.

Whenwillitgetwarm · 01/04/2024 07:53

Yay ‘Team Cozy’ is back and doing what they do best, ‘dreading’ summer and claiming they will burst into flames and die if the temp goes above 18C.

There must be a post from someone ‘dreading’ spring/summer and wanting to be ‘cozy’ at least once a week. Surely it’s now time for an anti-dog thread now? It goes in cycles.

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 07:59

I am another winter / autumn lover and I hate the long days esp at the height of summer. I console myself by thinking the longest day will be here before we know it and then we are on the way to darker evenings again. Look how fast this year has flown already !
I do try to embrace summer each year but the hot weather and light mornings and long evenings just don't suit me despite blackout blinds etc. And the increased noise levels are a massive bugbear as well.
September onwards is my v favourite bit of the year and as soon as it arrives I feel like I am back.in my natural element and the world is the right way up.again.
However I am aware that wishing your life away is not a good thing and so.i am determined to make the most of it this summer . Winter will be back round before we know it!

BigPandaTinyDragon · 01/04/2024 08:08

Where does this pressure to socialise so many people feel come from? If you don’t want to do stuff don’t!

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 08:09

@JJathome
Actually I am v extrovert ! Though I give you the second point as I am slightly overweight but not massively obese or anything.
For me the disruption to sleep is a huge factor as despite every option of blackout blinds, several.layers of curtains and a v dark room somehow my body knows and still wakes at the crack of dawn. And my children are the same so as the summer wears on I get increasingly tired and fed up and hot weather doesn't agree with me at all. We have air conditioners but I feel stuck in the house if it is hot. In autumn and winter you can wrap.up.and crack on whatever the weather and I just prefer that.
Obviously others feel differently about winter and I totally get that. I don't say much in real.life because people look at you as if you are mad but as these frequent threads show there are many who.feel the same apparently.

AquaBee · 01/04/2024 08:10

I hate summer. I’m near London and we have had some disgusting heat waves over the past few years.
I don’t mind spring but I despise summer

IloveAslan · 01/04/2024 08:13

BigPandaTinyDragon · 01/04/2024 08:08

Where does this pressure to socialise so many people feel come from? If you don’t want to do stuff don’t!

Exactly, I really don't understand all this angst about socialising - no-one is forcing people to do it surely?

RainbowZebraWarrior · 01/04/2024 08:24

coxesorangepippin · 01/04/2024 02:22

This time of year is great

Getting warmer, more sun, light nights but dark by 8, no midges

Midges are out here already. Hardy little buggers they are on the NE coast of England.

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 08:25

@KittenKins
I am sorry. That sounds v tough x

betterangels · 01/04/2024 08:27

I can't wait for light and spring. You like what you like.

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 08:28

@IloveAslan
You have posted just after midnight ! surely you are not out walking at that time no matter what the weather or time of year? Or have I misunderstood ?

JJathome · 01/04/2024 08:32

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 08:09

@JJathome
Actually I am v extrovert ! Though I give you the second point as I am slightly overweight but not massively obese or anything.
For me the disruption to sleep is a huge factor as despite every option of blackout blinds, several.layers of curtains and a v dark room somehow my body knows and still wakes at the crack of dawn. And my children are the same so as the summer wears on I get increasingly tired and fed up and hot weather doesn't agree with me at all. We have air conditioners but I feel stuck in the house if it is hot. In autumn and winter you can wrap.up.and crack on whatever the weather and I just prefer that.
Obviously others feel differently about winter and I totally get that. I don't say much in real.life because people look at you as if you are mad but as these frequent threads show there are many who.feel the same apparently.

Sorry I wasn’t saying it was both introvert and weight related issues, but either or, I don’t really get the sleep thing, but can see why that’s problematic,

RampantIvy · 01/04/2024 08:38

I've been enjoying going out a walk in the dark, knowing I'll bump into few people and that I can hide under heavy coat and hat.

Why do you want to hide away from everyone? Is there a back story?

You will find plenty of like minded people on here. Mumsnet has more summer haters than in real life.

In answer to your first post YABU.

We don't have pots of money and like not having to put the heating on or needing the lights on.
In the words of another poster I dislike "festering under a blanket" for 6 months of the year.

flapjackfairy · 01/04/2024 08:42

@JJathome
I remember hearing an African preacher at church saying that where he comes from it gets light at 6 am and dark at 6pm all year round and consequently he finds the changing seasons v strange and I think that would be the perfect scenario ! I could embrace the heat and summer days more fully if I knew I was going to have a proper dark evening to look forward to even if it was still hot outside .and of course it would solve sleep issue.

TheBeesBollox · 01/04/2024 08:53

DappledThings · 01/04/2024 06:53

I do too. It's just a tiny bit more exciting leaving the house while it's still dark. Getting to the office while it's still dark too, it just feels a bit cool. Doing it all in daylight is just ordinary.

Show quote history

I know exactly what you mean. I felt this intensified early last year in the extremely cold snap. Coming home from late shift in the dark and below zero temperatures felt like a tiny thrill of survival!

In terms of the OP... Generally I'm a summer person, love the warmth, love being outdoors. Feel most alive in the heatwaves when others are drooping. But this year I feel I'm not ready for it. I want it to be cold and dark so it feels right to hide inside cosily until I'm ready for summer.

mydogisthebest · 01/04/2024 09:05

I hate the dark and dislike damp drizzly grey days. I also hate winter clothes. Long sleeves annoy me and I don't like wearing socks.

It's the dark that is the worst for me though. I could live with it always being light. When I went to Sweden I loved that it never got dark. I am not that great a sleeper but my sleep was no worse there than it is here