If you could eliminate one thing about Christmas what would it be?

[Nonplusultra]

I think if I could change one thing I’d eliminate the presents - just have a lovely season of coming together for meals and companionship, without the stress and expense of buying gifts for a certain day.

I quite like giving gifts - I’d just rather do it as and when, instead of trying to find something thoughtful by a certain date within a strict price range.

What one aspect of Christmas would you change?

I would give a lethal injection to anyone and everyone who is nasty to their family at Christmas.

'I'd eliminate Fairytale of New York!'

So with you on that one! What a trite little dirge it is

Luckily these weren't a thing when our children were young but it would be Christmas Eve boxes (too busy peeling the spuds) and that elf on the shelf palava.

People.

I'd get up late, have a hot roast beef sandwich and watch whatever I wanted all day with a bottle of wine.

The chocolate ones are so dull these days. When they first took over from picture ones you still had a lovely Christmassy picture on the front and little pictures behind the chocolate.
I saw the Galaxy one was literally see through plastic inside and the front is just branding. So sad and dull.

The mass murder of animals

I'll add to this the Animals Bought As Presents .
It is 2023 and people still buy "a guinea-pig" or "a rabbit" for their DC and chances are by Valentines Day the poor soul wil be on Gumtree

Define nasty - family who say they'll accept an invite 4 weeks after they were invited if the can bring another complete family of 4?
Was I nasty for saying 'Eh No'
I thought it was a tad cheeky. Especially when they'd been given the invite as we were placing the food order on 5th November.

I don't think that's a Christmas or Birthday issue. Lots of people don't read up on the animals they are about to purchase all year round.

Everything!!. Can't be bothered with it. Should have it every 5 years. Nobody I know needs anything neither do I. We, ve scrapped presents for adults. If I could get away with staying home alone I would!.

Presents. A stocking with some gifts for kids would still be fun.

I'd say nasty is one relative who generally acts like a brat, has no empathy and a massive sense of entitlement ruining the Xmas day of another relative by trying to pressure them into doing activities they don't want to, then giving them abuse on Xmas day itself so badly that the nicer relative is so stressed and depressed they won't leave the house to come and visit us as planned, while shitty relative swans off to visit some other shitty relatives.
Can you tell I'm dreading this Christmas as I think it'll be more of the same?

Christmas is that time of year when we spend too much, eat too much and the big family Christmas Dinner is a big effort. However, I love it - always have, always will. To see everyone exchanging gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve is a priceless experience. No, I wouldn't change a thing.

This is so sad and wrong. It’s morphed from a two day Christian festival into a weeks-long orgy of excess, consumerism, waste, greed and heaping excessive gifts and food onto children.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't do it like that. We eat totally normally until Christmas Eve and do not fill the house full of selection boxes and snacks.

Nasty is so subjective though.

Are we talking about:

Someone who rolls in drunk and beats his wife for not having dinner ready in front of their terrified children

or

Someone who decided to break tradition and not bring there kids to visit every man and there dog thus 'ruining' everyones expectation

or

Maybe that comment from MIL that was a backhanded compliment that cut a little to close to the bone

Drama seems to feed of Xmas on this website but a lot of it is subjective. Like some one will be upset DH got them nothing but half the posters will lament it as greedy and commercialism and say they never do gifts so get over it while others will say hes a nasty deadbeat who couldn't be bothered to put effort in etc...

The presents are what makes it Christmas here. It's only me and my husband, our children and my parents so if we were to take away the presents, it would just be like every other day. Obviously we eat together every day, so apart from having some decorations up, it would just be a normal time without the gifts.

I'd get rid of children 'singing'.

Yeah the 'classic chocolate' ones usually do have chocolates shaped like a candle or a tree or a robin and a little picture of a snowflake, santa or rudolph etc... behind each door. While we go for character ones it is usually something like Marshall from paw patrol in a xmas hat in the snow.

This is the first year I'm really struggling to find these type anywhere though. Everything has become the galaxy type which seemed aimed at adults not little kids and they use to be £1 but now they are like 'lindt' chocolate and £15.

I fully agree. I don't have any family, DH has his parents but they live next door and we see them EVERY day.

Growing up it was just me and mam, she would fill the house like Santas workshop... it was so magical.

Now its Me, DH and our 3 kids... we spend everyday together so if you took away the presents its literally just any day. We spend plenty of time together all year round so thats not 'special' to just sit together its average.

My mam had Xmas eve 'box' as a little girl in the 60s.

Its been a thing since WW2. It wasn't in a 'box' (thats the modern addition) but new PJs, warm milk and a book (annual usually) laid on the bed on xmas eve has been a 'tradition' since the rationing of the war.

Some families don't do it and thus had no exposure to it but it certainly has been a thing for getting on 100 years.

Elf on the shelf though... I'm not against other doing it but I still don't even understand what it really is.

Cliff Richard. Not his songs as I don't mind 'Mistletoe and Wine' while I am walking around ASDA.. it's just him. He's creepy and not very palatable these days.

Buying presents for children that aren't mine. So fucking many presents.

All of it.

Xmas dinner, which lets face it is a tarted up carvery, which I hate 🤢

No presents for adults, what can you possibly need?

Reasonably priced presents for kids, and once they’re 18 they no longer qualify for one.

My mum is adamant that she gives me money for Xmas. I don’t need anything so I give it to the Salvation Army. We all have too much these days and expectations for some children are ridiculous, and parents get into debt for it. It’s just one day a year and it’s bloody ridiculous how much money is wasted!

Ba humbug 🤣🤣 Merry Xmas

What you don't have any Christmas nights out with work, or lunch with family or friends in the run up to Christmas?

December is usually manic with nights out, panto visits, Christmas film at the cinema. And lunch or dinner before or after.

I think that maybe those of us with adult DC can help them avoid stress in future years by making clear to them that although we would love to see them for Christmas Day - if they have other plans, or prefer a different kind of Christmas, that we are cool with that and will find other ways to celebrate - so taking the pressure off them that we've felt ourselves in feeling we had to travel to, or host, our extended families.