Worst time of the year

[SHxxxxx]

Christmas should stop. It's killing parents mental health and finances. I absolutely hate it. Kids being fed a fantasy of Santa whilst we all get in debt because capitalism is battering us senseless to the awful tunes of Mariah Carey, the Pogues and Wham! I loathe Christmas and are deeply depressed until January arrives.. if you love Christmas, there must be something seriously wrong with you.

I loathe Christmas and are deeply depressed until January arrives..if you love Christmas, there must be something seriously wrong with you.

But you've said you suffer from a mental illness, so why does that mean other people have something wrong with them for liking something you don't?

I sympathise OP, but simply being different doesn't mean there's 'something wrong'.

I've been away before and also volunteered for Crisis in the past. Unfortunately I can't go away this year. I think it's too expensive and the cats ' regular cattery is closed. I don't mind the day itself too much - it's all the build up. People who are saying "just don't do it if you don't want to" are just missing the point completely.

Pretty much the same here.

I hope you have a lovely time, but rather than wanting to tell people to fuck off, you could bear in mind that not everyone has a "tribe".

We have a Christmas tree...which I do for the kids...but I really dislike decorations round the house. They only look nice imo if the house is immaculately clean and tidy... which is only ever for a fleeting moment in my house. Stick a full laundry basket down and a teen DC throws a hoodie over the bannister and decorations just add to the mess and look awful.

I like Christmas and the Solstice. I like celebrating the fact that the days are going to get longer and warmer and marking that with food, music and light and celebrating it with family and friends.

I don't like the Christmas pop music much so I don't go into shops, but don't much anyway so just avoid the stuff which annoys me.

As with everything there will be people who love it and people that loathe it, neither group is right or wrong or better than the other

There is a lot of talk on this thread about pressure. Pressure to host or visit, pressure for specific gifts, pressure to buy specific foods

You could say the same about other points of the year. Pressure to spend £££ on a holiday because “it’s summer”, pressure to socialise when the sun is out because “you don’t know when it’s going to be nice again” etc.

This has made me grateful that in our family it is more about the people that we want to spend time with rather than having to do and/or eat certain things because “it’s Christmas”

@ilovesooty part of our Christmas is an open invitation for people who don't otherwise have anywhere else to be. My BIL is from Argentina and usually has friends who can't get back for various reasons so they're all welcome and we try to gather them in (if they want to come - its not compulsory!)

Ah, the annual 'Christmas is shit' posts starting on MN.

We save for Christmas all year, so we don't have to worry come December. Also, DH was very poor growing up so expected very little at Christmas and I lived in a household that had to pack up and move every 2 years so we were quite minimalist in terms
of the "stuff" we got for Christmas (parents knew it was just extra stuff to cart across the world). So I think we both don't feel any pressure to get dd anything extravagant, which is a blessing. Kids don't remember stuff, they remember happy times. Do you remember all the things Santa got for you as a kid? No, because ultimately these things don't shape you.

I love Christmas, I love planning and putting effort in for my DC, but yes as the COL crisis continue to squeeze, I do worry about the cost of it all.

Then I think back to what I remember, and yes the excitement of waking up to surprise gifts is part of it, it was more the getting of things and Santa having been that was exciting, and this can be done on a budget.

I also love the food, the atmosphere, playing games, the tradition, the preparation, the decorating, the anticipation. Now I'm an adult, I'm also the cooker of Christmas dinner, so that's something I love and treasure too.

I think an outlook shift is needed, including for me who is indeed getting bogged down with the thought of spending all that money!

They get earlier every year 😉

Totally agree OP. I hate the whole Christmas/New Year period. My favourite day of the year is January 2nd, when it's all finally over.

Just like the Christmas stuff in shops that people on here are moaning about. Oh the irony…

Well I love Christmas and there is nothing seriously wrong with me. I don't stress out or get into debt. It is about love and hope, and celebrating with the ones you love the most. Christmas isn't about getting things and spending loads of money. Sure there are people that to celebrate that way, but how they celebrate should not effect you in anyway. Like everything in life it is what you make of it, and if your Christmas is shit maybe have a look at what you are doing.

I love how a select few are so offended by the word "snuggling". 😂 Would you prefer the term "embracing"? "Holding one another close"? "My heirs pulled close to my busom?"

If you don't get it, just say it! I, on the other hand, am very excited to snuggle down in the evenings with a lit fire, my thick blankets, a pair of excited and tired kids, and a loving DH! How incredibly twee of me. You might also like to know that there'll be choral music on in the background, fairy lights, candles, a snoring dog, and hot drinks! Not hot chocolate though, they find it sickly, the weirdos.

Also interesting that the very same people complain about "Christmas tat" in B&M and the consumerism in general, but even when someone says they don't take part in that, there's still people trying to find a fault.

So maybe it's not really the consumerism or stress you don't like, that's just an easy moan!

I think that's a lovely approach and I hope you have a great time.

I have good friends who will invite me to their gatherings for Christmas Eve, Boxing day and New Year's Eve. One year when they hosted I was invited on Christmas day as well. I do feel ungrateful but in many ways I'd rather be on my own, but I really don't feel I can say that.

I like a bit of time off over Christmas, we've got some nice traditions that include a Christmas walk with friends and a dog walk on Christmas morning.

I like Christmas dinner.

But I don't get into debt, I don't travel to see relatives (used to and that was very stressful), kids are grown up....and don't really get sucked up into any commercialism. Like having the decorations up too - but they are relatively minimal.

Ah, the annual 'Christmas is shit' posts starting on MN.

And I think that shows a lot of people do feel that way, and that Christmas is actually really stressful for a lot of people, especially women. The vast majority of the preparation, present-buying, cooking, organising visits etc falls on women and yes they could point-blank refuse, but it's much more complicated than that. It's bloody hard to stand up to family pressure, emotional blackmail from parents or in-laws, kids' excitement and expectations.

I do think people can work towards reducing the expectations and simplifying things and I think I've successfully done that. I'd love to go further and disappear on holiday for the duration but I can't do that to my DD - "so just don't do it then" is much, much easier said than done.

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

with a lit fire, my thick blankets, a pair of excited and tired kids, and a loving DH! How incredibly twee of me. You might also like to know that there'll be choral music on in the background, fairy lights, candles, a snoring dog, and hot drinks!

I'm honestly not taking the piss...as long as it's what you like..but it's funny how different we all are. This description is my worst nightmare. A fire and thick blankets is a horrible thought..I think I'm in peri so am absolutely boiling most of the time! I hate candles...they are such an unnecessary fire risk imo. I'm not a fan of dogs or pets in general. I'm also a weirdo who doesn't like music. As for my family.. I love them to bits obviously but as a sahm with a dh who WFH, I see quite enough of them ! 😂

That's fair! I've got horrible Raynauds so I don't know why I bloody love that period of year so much. I walk around layered up like Joey when he stole Chandler's clothes, and have never managed the whole "cute Christmas chic" that so many women pull off beautifully with their jumpers and smart coats. 🤣 The fire and blankets are a necessity as well as pretty for me! I'm a total candle nut though. I started making them in lockdown and still haven't got through half of them. DH has started asking if we can give them away.

I am also really soppy. Properly sickly sweet romantic and DH and I moon over each other like teenagers. It's not very MN, I know, but I can't help it! Any opportunity for extended time together and I'm like an over-excited labrador, even if we're already in each other's pockets. 😂 I think everyone is just different, and that's fine tbh. The height of summer and you'll catch me sunburnt, clutching a cold drink and hiding in the shade.

I'm obviously broken! SAD and Raynauds and I still pine for dark days.

I don’t like music either @Comedycook. hate hot chocolate and never ever get under a blanket unless I’m going to sleep in bed.