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 love it but I have always done it my way -I don't get into debt (I started shopping after DD2's birthday in July), I save for it as well.

I do a simple dinner with lots of lovely food but easy - chicken breast joint, beef ready to cook joint - no huge turkey or hours of prep.

It's about seeing friends and family for me - I have a party the week before for my close baby friends (babies are now 16 with older siblings home from uni - we all join in the fun), then my mum and step dad come Christmas day (stay in a hotel) we have dinner then the games start - at some point we join my best mates 2 doors down and eventually crawl to bed.

I get 2 weeks off work which is needed and we just enjoy being together.

I do love the decorations but, apart from a real tree, I reuse them every year.

It doesn't have to be stressful, debt ridden or OTT - it can be what you make it.

I have 2 birthdays in oct and dec (DD1 and DD3) so careful planning and saving is key for me.

And I AM one of those in B+M buying 'tat' - it's stuff they will use for their stockings such as beauty sets or drinking games!

I didn't mean all the stuff you mentioned, it was about one plate of food, turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, sprouts, stuffing, other veg and gravy. Which without the pigs in blankets is a Sunday dinner.

I hate Christmas too. It's a reminder that another year is over, that I have very limited family and friends and that one day I could find myself all alone for it.

Well seems t me you are better being reminded and taking some action to change your future

I love Christmas and there's definitely nothing seriously wrong with me! I especially love Advent and use it as a chance to find some stillness every day when I light my Advent candle. My favourite time is Christmas Eve when everything's done and ready. The rest of my family go to church and I have a quiet hour on my own.
We listen to (and sing!) carols from the beginning of December and titivate the house with fairy lights and bits and pieces from the first weekend although the trees (real) go up the weekend before Christmas. We keep gift giving simple and have a huge Christmas dinner and fabulous Boxing Day family party but otherwise we don't go mad.
I get that the shops can feel overwhelming and I'd much rather none of it started until November but ban that, not Christmas itself. Personally, high summer is a harder time of year.

I love the idea of a nice scented advent candle - where do you get yours from?

Also like the use of the word titivate

Whose making you spend money and celebrate Christmas?

I love Christmas, from September to January is my favourite part of the year. Nothing wrong with me!

Ah the Christmas complainers have started 🙄

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing I had one of these for my birthday last year from The Glow Company

I'll try to add the image!

Oh lovely thank you!

No wonder you're sick of it if you start moaning in September.

@MrsWhattery well said! I totally agree, the idea of doing what you please is mostly bravado. I don't like Christmas and have wanted to go away for years but dh won't have it. We both have elderly parents nearby and siblings who travel to visit so we have to host, not just dinner, alternate family each year, but overnight guests too. If we stop the effect is widespread, children won't get to see their grandparents, vulnerable elderly people will be left alone etc. So yes of course I could leave by myself but I'm a married woman and a mother and its kind of part of the deal, to do that would be incredibly selfish and possibly unforgivable.

Those who say ‘WE don’t go overboard’ and ‘WE have a lovely snuggly time just us’ and ‘YOU TOO can chose to have the perfect Christmas just like ours you want’ really don’t get it.

For some, their ‘we’ is just one elderly parent who needs to be looked after and for others, there is no ‘we’ at all.

Easy to see that for them, the most wonderful time it is not.

In fairness though, those posters are responding to the OP in which she talks about the pressure on parents to make it magical for children, their kids being fed the lie of Santa, rampant consumerism etc, not loneliness or the difficulties of caring for an elderly parent at Christmas.

Someone always has it worse - it’s not a race to misery and people are allowed to enjoy things even if you don’t.

I think the problem with Christmas is even if you want to ignore it, you can't actually escape it for about three months...it's everywhere, in the shops, on the TV etc. Its really constant. And there's a really horrible narrative that absolutely everyone else is having really huge, happy family Christmases and therefore if you're not, you are a failure or an oddity. It can be such a horrible time for so many people.

Track Santa on Christmas Eve on the NORAD website, see when he's close and run to bed.... 😬

One of my abiding memories was taking the grandchildren outside at around teatime on Christmas Eve to watch Father Christmas flying over, quite clear in the sky, very bright. (Thanks ISS!)

I have consistently said that I hope others enjoy their Christmas and acknowledged that I'm in a minority. However I don't need other people to tell me how to make it better than it is.

Okay. I didn’t? And I didn’t tag you? Why have you taken personal offence.

You didn't tag me, no. You implied that people who don't like Christmas and have said so were keen to prevent others doing so. You did that by generalising. I chose to answer. Any number of posters could have done so. I am not taking personal offence. I can respond to your point without being tagged. I think that's how discussion forums work.

I think you are taking personal offence to be honest. I was implying that people who don’t like Christmas don’t need to berate those who do which is what is happening on this thread, nothing else. Maybe don’t make assumptions.

You explicitly said that people who don't like Christmas thought others shouldn't enjoy it. Perhaps if that's not what you meant you shouldn't have said it. As for your perception of personal offence, that is your perception only. You are of course welcome to make assumptions about what others are thinking.

I had some awful Christmases when I was a single parent and hardly any money.
Although my family are caring..nobody really bothered if I was managing or not.
I remember one particular Christmas when my ex took the girls to his house for dinner and my mother who lived nearest to me.was whisked off to my other sister's for the day.
I felt so alone..it was miserable.
And I hate the Christmas music too..

PortiasBiscuit · 23/09/2024 08:48

Dd works in a card shop, the abuse she is getting because the Christmas stuff is out already is extraordinary.”

Good grief. What kind of morons abuses a young woman behind a counter because they don’t like the company’s policy?
I hope she has a supportive manager.