why is hristmas such a stressful time?

[pukkapatch]

just been thinking, comparing etc.
people get really really stressed about getting everything 'done' for christmas,. but also, moan about hvaing to do so much for christmas.
i;m sort of comparing it to eid, which, is actually, a much more social occasion, at least as practiced around me, in my life. presents, and food, and cards, and mosque, and new clothes. and visiting friends everywhere. and emsuring lots of food on table for guests who pop in etc.
christmas is presents, and cards, and one christmas dinner, church in some instances, ntree and decoarations, and lots of food to eat.
so why does christmas seem so much more stressful?

I was about to respond "God knows" but I suspect he's pretty baffled as well!

I think because people want it to be like a Hello magazine spread.

Capitalism. A western tradition that has more power than religion.

It's all about conspicuous consumption and the need to keep up with the Jones's.

Spending Cash + Family + Only One Day Climax + Absolute Certainty of Anti-Climax + Bloody Wrapping Everything + Bloody Cooking Everything

= SpeccieStress

And sometimes the dishwasher breaks the week before and no-one can come to fix it until the New Year.

In my case it has the potential to be really stressful if I let it because I work full time and am out of the house for nearly 12 hours in the day. Obviously when I am at home I want to be with DS not cooking or shopping or anything else. So do I get stressed? No, I keep it simple instead. I do the things I enjoy and don't bother with other stuff.

If I was having a house full of relatives on Christmas Day I would be sh*tting myself, especially since I only narrowly avoided having to work Christmas Eve and not get home until 6pm. As it is, it's just the three of us - nice and relaxed, all the traditional stuff but no stress.

I am sad however that I have no time to do things like make the Christmas cake, mince pies, Christmas pudding. I think next year I might take a good week or so off at the beginning of December.

hmmm, yes i suspect that is what it is. the capitalism, and the worship of all things celebrity....
one eid, when i was living with mil, i remember making rice flour roti typ ehtings with her for about three hours. i was seven months pregnant, and my back was killing me. i left after three hours. but she carried on. i KNOW she cooks a massive amount fo food, but she doesnt get so stressed about it all. she also has masses of family visiting for eid dinner. five kids with assorted dp's, and grandchildren, one with dp of her own.

never ever been neat the sodding rice things again

I also agree with the capitalism thing. I can't abide seeing the last minute Christmas shopping rush. Everyone hurrying around, all piling onto the trains/buses with bags and bags full of expensive, but incredibly useless, "things". I refuse to be a part of it.

I have some friends who go to Morrocco every year till it's all over (I live in the South of Spain). I envy them.

Actually, what I'd like to do is a winter soltice celebration and then go and hide somewhere where they don't do xmas till it's over...anyone want to come?

twinkle your lucky to be able to get away with that.
i reallly dont like the comercialism. all the kids want is stuff stuff stuff. and they get stuff at eid as well. so i feel they get too much. but it seems that compared to many of there peers, they just dont get much. this depsite two eids, and christmas.

Well DS is only 16 months at the moment so it's pretty easy. We've bought nice things for him, don't get me wrong, but because we want to not because we feel we should.

I'm praying I can instill my own anti-commercialism values into him (for the sake of my sanity and our bank balance), but I'm not holding my breath!

As a winter solstice celebration I suppose it works ok, just about. Something to take our minds off the fact that it's so flippin dark and cold. I'd love to say we did some kind of alternative here but I do go along with it, but try not to get so over the top about it.

Two eids? How does that work? Eid was on Wednesday wasn't it? [gormless emoticon]

big eid, called eid ul adha, the one with the animal sacrifice, (usually a direct debit to a charity nowadays, or money sent to some third cousin removed in country of origin to do the deed nowadays)
and little eid, called eid ul fitr. after month of fasting in ramadan.

big eid was on wednesday this year. little eid was in mid october. 12th i think. but they go back by ten days every year, becasue of lunar calendar versus solar.

i remember the year 2000. that was a nightmare. one weekend christmas. the next the millenium, and the next eid.....

So at some stage they'll both end up in summer?

Or is it like the dates for Easter - roughly the same time each year?

yup!
i wasborn on the 9th day of the month of ffasting. and have always insisted on two birthdays in the vain hope that i will get two birthday presents. but after 33 years, it all comes round again, so you are actually a year older! so dont do that anymore.

Nice try though !

Happy Eid by the way, if that's not too late. does "eid mubarak" make sense? (saw it written down t'other day and wasnt' sure if it was a greeting)

lol, my parents do alway phone me on that date!
yes, eid mubarak is entirley appropriate. thank you! and a happy eid to you as well.

wasn't sure I'd remembered the spelling properly.