Festive icks

[crispsandnuts]

'With all the trimmings'

I couldn't even type that without my teeth itching.

I'm sure they'll be plenty more...

Excessive mention of family members who have died and how it's extra sad at Christmas

My parents adored Christmas, they still had advent calendars every year right up to 2019. They both died in 2020 and this is the time of year when I miss them most. TBF though, I don't post excessively about them on my "socials" as I know it would bring others down and my parents would haunt me forever if did.

Sure, if you want to and it's in your budget. Don't like it, don't do it. It's not new anyway. Posters in their 40s, 50s, 60s and older have said they had Christmas Eve boxes as kids.

The golden rule of Christmas: whatever level of festivity you land on is the right one. Anything beyond what you enjoy is bad taste, excessive, mindless consumerism, etc etc.

And you'll never hear it said about things the middle class tend to like, like expensive tech or bikes or foreign holidays. A film night box, though...

I don’t know why I read this as ‘gets up in the night to jolly vape’ must be exhausted from all the Christmas folly (ick) 😁

Wow...🙄

That f***g Mariah Carey song!

You realise that practically all of Scotland use the word Santa. Father Christmas is more of an English thing

I love Christmas but that's probably because I've never celebrated it as such. I celebrate Hanukkah but we used Christmas as an excuse to have parties. I never had a tree 😭

All the gushing about hot chocolate, as if it was something you could only get for 3 days in the year.

The smell of Lynx on Boxing Day...yep Trever it appears we all know what you got ugh!

A little research suggests that the character of Santa Claus WAS, in fact, invented by an American (although based on St Nicholas) and was imported to the UK later on by another American (a writer) but that this happened further back than most people think. (19thC )

So those people who insist they grew up decades ago with Santa as opposed to FC are probably telling the truth.

However, FC was, until pretty recently, still the default in MOST of England, Wales and Scotland. But by the 70s/80s I think most of us had at least heard of him as Santa too.

Now it seems to be the other way around, and that, I think, CAN be put down to the influence of American media.

To me, at least, he'll always be Father Christmas. A far more magical and mysterious figure than jolly old Santa Claus.
The Father of Winter who has his place among the old gods. But that's just me.

More a New Years Ick than Christmas. But the expectation that New Years Eve is full of expectation and the best night out of the year. It's normally a massive flop / disappointing and never what it's cracked up to be

Yes this. And the utter nonsense spouted about "lying to children". Dont be so fucking stupid!

When they're older and they ask - fair enough, but all this " I've never lied to my kid about Father Christmas and it was still magical for them"
No - no it wasn't. Not in the same way. You miserable bint!

Yes! I would love someone to explain this in a way I understand. It’s baffling. See also ‘PJs’ as an activity.

😂 yes to this.

My dh never believed in Santa as a child (his mum told him there was no Santa) and he feels he’s missed out on magic.

@MistyGreenAndBlue , exactly. Finding that bulging stocking or pillowcase at the end of the bed on a still-dark early Christmas morning, and knowing that Father Christmas had been, was the most super-magical bit of my childhood Christmases - apart from the Christmas Eve excitement of knowing he was coming, of course.

I feel sorry for children whose joyless-misery parents refuse to ‘lie’ to them. FGS, a bit of innocent make-believe is not a ‘lie’ - not to me, anyway.

The word treats really annoys me too, but you know what tips me over the edge - “baked treats” 😱

My husband's family didn't do Santa and none of them gave a shit.

Anything being described as 'yummy' by anyone over the age of 5. Christmas or otherwise.

I asked my now adult children about this recently and they said the magic and excitement for 11/12 years was worth the deception!😂

So do I. I'm 50 now and still remember the almost unbearable excitement of Christmas Eve as a child waiting for Father Christmas. I'm glad I had that.

Well. They didn't know any different though, did they?

I have struggled with the Santa thing in the past, when my kids were little. It is lying, even if it is magic and fun, and the reason I didn’t like it wasn’t a deep aversion to lying (of course most people lie to their kids in various ways, often with good reason), but because of how the child would feel when they found out. And I really don’t like any pressure being put on a child to believe it or not get presents, etc. that’s nasty. It was important to me that when my kids asked me straight up, I was honest, but they had a few years of believing it. But I know my kids - they would have been more upset if, having worked it out, I’d just denied their logic. Neither of them were terribly deflated, they were relieved that their suspicions were justified, and they never seemed any less excited in subsequent years.

Kids are different. I can’t believe it when NT and intelligent kids supposedly still believe in Santa at 10 or 11 (i think they must be humouring their parents) but if they do, it’s not my business.

Santa is a very weird thing all told. All the fake santas everywhere, the multiple different traditions and the idea of an old bloke appearing in your bedroom at night.

In the spirit of the thread I really don't like all the Nordic decorations that have become popular. Where's the opulence? The glitter? The sparkle? The GOLD? ugh it's just so BORING.

I 100% agree with them 😁

I prefer Nordic and we also have blue fairy lights (shock horror!) More DDs' choice than mine on the lighting front, but still.

Still, perhaps looking like a police station will unconsciously deter would be burglars. 😃