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 hear you OP but I’ve tried to reframe it and we’ve brought back traditions like making paper chains. I also teach my children it’s the season to give to those less fortunate. I help to arrange a local collection for the food bank. My Mum and I forfeit our presents and we buy gifts for a children’s charity.
I see it as a time to catch up with friends and family but I do not have to be wearing a Santa hat or singing Mariah at the time! I don’t go to work doo’s or organised hotel parties. We save a small amount all year and I stick to a budget. We’re not seeing Santa 10,000 times this year. It is possible not to get dragged into the consumerism but you all still have a great time.

Think OP's been on the mulled wine 🍷

I don't buy gifts, buy Xmas food, cook traditional food, host or send cards...but I enjoy myself! I don't conform...never have done.

Why put yourself into debt and through torture seeing people you don't like?

Goady thread in which OP very unlikely to return.

People just have no common sense. It's not a Christmas thing, it's a "people" thing. It's perfectly possible to celebrate Christmas without rampant consumerism, buying bucket loads of plastic Chinese shite from B&M and getting into debt competing with other families. More fool those people who choose to do that.

Ah the Christmas grumbling seems to start earlier every year.

I love it but then I only do the bits I enjoy and I don’t spend much on presents for adults- by agreement we have a strict budget or do homemade gifts.

I wonder if you feel like me OP. Its not the actual Christmas thats the problem its the forced participation and the forced "joy and joliness".

Most of all the fact it all starts in September is too much. There are only so many christmas songs one can hear before you want to rip your ears off.

I would absolutely support a ban on anything public including advertising, songs, decorations, before Dec 1!!!!

Just stop anything to do with the purchase of tat, unhealthy food and drink, anything that doesn't sit right with you. I adore Christmas but we haven't done presents for wider family in decades, although we see them. Stick to your budget, enjoy the time off and the time to reflect on another year having gone by and how to improve the next one. Make it your type of Christmas.

Well I love Christmas.

A perfect Christmas for me includes a church service of some kind around the big day, (whether it’s Christingle, a Carol service or Midnight Mass), it involves Christmas songs and music, log fires and scented candles, getting together with friends and family, delicious food and drink, films, twinkly lights, a tree, mulled wine and seeing the faces of my loved ones when they open their gifts.

It doesn’t have to involve elf on the shelf, trips to bloody Lapland, Santa’s grotty grotto, matching Christmas jumpers and pyjamas, Christmas Eve boxes, excessive plastic tat, competing with other people on social media or eating to excess.

But nobody has to do it any set way, do they? You can opt out.

I love Christmas and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't get into debt, I don't tie myself in knots about hosting etiquette. We don't cram the Dec calendar fill of ott things. I grew up believing in Santa then naturally grew out of it, it's not exactly traumatic.

I love the lights, the food, seeing family, choosing gifts I know people special to me will enjoy. I even love the music (ok maybe there's something a little wrong with me 🤣) My son is almost 5 and the last 2 years have been so amazing watching it through him and his excitement.

I realise much of this is because I'm lucky enough to have grown up in a loving family etc and I don't take that for granted.

But I don't see the point in trying to ruin it for people by being "above it all" banging on about capitalism, tat or whatever else. These things exist all year, let's face it. I don't really like going abroad on holiday (or hot weather generally) but I don't go around ranting to anyone who loves jetting off for some much needed holiday time about how stressful airports are, how bad for the environment planes are, how bad for people sun bathing can be or whatever else I could think up if I sat and stewed on it for long enough.

If you don't like Christmas just opt out and let people that do get on with it.

You might be getting into debt but I don't. I love Christmas and provide what we can afford.

I am also alone and now living in a different country - so I also agree with you.

Being a christmas orphan at other peoples celebration just makes you feel worse.

So I go on holiday now, and its glorious.

Tbh, it's on you if you can't ignore all the consumerist shite.

I have a modest budget and stick to it. We have build family traditions that don't involve spending load of money or are focused on materialistic nonsense.

I haven't bought into hosting for large groups of people and we don't play Christmas music outside of decorating the tree.

None of it is compulsory!

We have 3x late November birthdays in our house, so Christmas is forbidden (with full agreement from the dc) until after the last birthday. I find it depressing that shops are beginning to get Christmas things in already.

But aside from this, I bloody love Christmas. December is a lovely month and I particularly enjoy the lead up to Christmas (more than the day itself!) Boxing Day is my favourite though. Yabu.

I love Christmas since I’ve had children. I hated it before as I was suffering with depression and didn’t see the point of anything. Watching my son help me with the decorations and open his presents has been so lovely! This year we have a baby and I can’t wait to take her to the garden centre when the decorations are all up to see her reaction to the lights and colours. I don’t go into debt, I buy most of my presents from vinted. I find a festive cake or biscuit recipe and veganise it. Lovely time of year

You don’t need to buy into the Santa lie. People who think the magic of Xmas depends on believing in Santa are utterly batshit. I never believed in Santa as a kid and Christmas still had that lovely magical feel.

Also agree that the people saying "just don't do it" are being disingenuous - yes I'd love to opt out of hte whole thing, ideally by taking an extended holiday somewhere sunny from 15th December for a fortnight. But I do not exist in a vacuum, i have a DH, three kids and an elderly widowed mother, all of whom expect to celebrate.

Similar to the "just ignore it" people - well yes, easy enough at this time of year. I just avoid the aisle of random tat and don't go into Home Bargains. But by 1st November it is all over every shop with decorations, piped music, music on the radio, adverts on TV, it's everybody's first topic of conversation, houses are decorated, constant emails promoting special offers or christmas nights out. You can minimise all of that by listening to podcasts not radio and watching non-commercial TV or streaming, but not seeing any of it is impossible.

Same! We don't spend stupid money. We love Xmas and are easygoing that time of year. Music is fab too.

I hate it too OP - or rather I hate what it's become. When I was a kid it was something that happened in December, there wasn't this months' long build-up and expectation. Presents were modest. It was one day that was spent with family, eating and drinking and sharing a few gifts. No one was trying to outdo one another. Now it's vile - months of ugly tat in the shops, endless awful music everywhere you go, ghastly 'influencers' and naff celebs boasting about how much money they've spent. It's horrible, an orgy of spending and waste. If I didn't have kids I'd never celebrate it again, DH and I would go somewhere each year that doesn't celebrate and forget all about it.

I love Christmas - a good party ( for 1 or more ) , joy at a dark time of year . A chance to reflect , to remember past joys with those no longer with us.a break from the norm and a chance for everyone to let their hair down. It doesn't have to be on the 25th- any day around the end of the year when you can do what you want

I don't see why WE should stop Christmas because YOU are incapable of managing your spending or childrens expectations

You don't need endless presents
It's fine if the presents are things that are desperate needed like a new coat and socks ( although I would feel bad about giving school uniform as a gift )
You don't need Eve boxes, trips to Santa or the lights or whatever is the rage this year
An advent calendar- buy a bag of wrapped sweets ( opal fruits ) and hide one in a different location each day - multiple kids different colours and you lose next day if you pinch or reveal someone else sweet

An appeal to all - if you know someone who will be alone try and find it in you to invite them to something - an act of generosity at a time of giving

But it is in all the shops. Rammed down your throat every time you go shopping. From now on you cannot escape it even if you want to.

I am with you OP I detest it. It is not about being skint as I save all year I just hate that I have to work a lot of it (NHS) and never get any quality time with my family. We book a sunny holiday for the end of Jan as a treat for when it is all over.

Can this thread be (ironically) moved to the Christmas topic, please?

I agree about the music. I don't mind choral carols, but I can't stand the pop songs, especially "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart..."

Hear, hear!

Christmas is only truly magical up to about the age of 10, when you're blissfully unaware of just how commericalised it is and how long you have to hear about it for. I truly think it would be a lot nicer if there was some sort of ban on Christmas advertisements before December 1st. Businesses would make less money, but we'd be able to preserve our sanity a bit more.

I'll never understand people who make such a fuss over Christmas - it's just one day of the flipping year! And if Christmas is truly your highlight of the year, I'm sorry for you because it must mean the rest of your year is pretty dreadful.

Everywhere's horrendously busy around Christmas, the music is insufferably awful, and the weather is usually dreadful - we rarely even get snow in December these days either. Just awful grey cold rain and drizzle.

Quite frankly if I could skip Christmas every year for the rest of my life I'd die happy.

I can't believe it, either.

This is what I hate. Christmas in fucking September. In a week the Christmas music will start. It's ridiculous.

Come December everyone I know will be sick of it all and just want it over with.

I love Christmas as does my friends and wider family. If you don't want to engage with it then there's no obligation.