Anyone else wish christmas wasn't a thing anymore?

[Tacali]

I like christmas for my DC but I wish it wasn't a thing anymore.

Anyone else feel the same? I know I'm probably the minority.

Or just tell them you’re doing something else? Making up a lie at the last minute seems unnecessarily disruptive and cruel.

Oh blimey. That does sound rotten.

This year, book something to look forward to. A night in a nice hotel for example on the 27th xx

I love Christmas for the tradition, socialising, eating, drinking but have always hated the pressure to exchange gifts. We now only buy for young children in the family and adults don’t bother. That makes it so much easier and more enjoyable for me. I really don’t enjoy winter so think it’s one thing to enjoy during that season and I would really miss it if it was no longer a thing.

Loved doing all the stuff when dcs were small, but they're grown now so no point really. 2 of them are going elsewhere this year anyway,so just be adult dd1 and dh.
I prefer to celebrate the Solstice instead..much more mystical and meaningful for me,but will still put the tree up I suppose for DD.
This will be first Christmas since mum died so not really feeling any.enthusiasm for it.

MingingTiles joke alert 🙄

My parents are elderly and rather isolated. They were good parents to me, enjoy Christmas and I am not selfish enough to let them sit at home alone on a day they associate with family.

Christmas is what you make it.

You do what you want, you don't have to conform to other people's expectations. And ignore those who go bonkers in Sept and then over the top generally.

I love Christmas. Everything about it. Bar the excessive present buying. In fact we are about to have our monthly family meeting and on the agenda for my late teens is expectation management around presents.
This year they will get one big main tree present each, Then their stocking but all it will contain is something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. We have gone mental on stockings until now and I no longer have the cash or desire to do it. It will not go down well but I'm sticking to it.

I LOVE Christmas, but I really think Christmas is what you make it.

I've had stressful Xmases where I've had a dozen guests and meals to cook and young children causing chaos.

And I've had Xmases where we stay in PJs all day and dinner is frozen party food buffets.

Loved both.

These days we have teenagers. So gifts are a bit more expensive, but we have a bit of freedom too. We chill in PJs, watch crap on tv, eat a roast dinner and inevitably go to bed early as we're shattered by 9pm. I still love it now it's more low key.

No reason you have to do traditions and excess just because the shops or adverts make you feel you should. You don't have to invite every man and their dog to your house, or be forced to go and visit anyone else.

Advert Christmas is my idea of hell, they show 127 people crammed into a 2 up 2 down, all bringing their own chair and cracker and laughing merrily and carolers outside singing while the turkeys carved and some heartwarming music and a poor harassed woman cooking and cleaning and handing out mince pies while laughing merrily and then when she finally sits down someone will hand her a tub of celebrations with hardly any left and she looks grateful and they all laugh merrily and the voiceover says ‘celebrate with the ones you love’ with a big photo of a tub of celebrations overflowing. Absolute nightmare and false advertising all at once and everyone strives to make their Christmas like that one while a poster above described what sounds like a lovely Christmas and says she’s been told it’s sad!

It's just the cost of it all, we always say we'll cut down but everything is just so expensive now!

I love Christmas. The lights and special treats and events make an otherwise cold and rainy time much more exciting. I love putting the tree up and chucking a Santa hat on the dog to go and listen to the brass band on Christmas Eve. DD will be 5 this year and wants a marble run, so nothing too extravagant, but I appreciate things get more expensive as they get older. My family has done a secret Santa gift exchange for many years which saves £££! (Highly recommended - everyone gets one thing they want and no useless tat!)

We do always have to work around elderly family members on their own, but luckily all fairly local so they just tag along. I do always ponder having a 'just us' Christmas but it's not going to happen (everyone wants to see DD anyway!)

I love Christmas - but i don't go visit anyone on the day. We just stay in, eat lovely food (that DH makes), open presents and play games. Christmas is the only thing that gets me through winter!

I'm hoping your single!

Tree is fine going up 18th, stop doing cards, bag up the junk and hide it until January, do gift bags with tissue paper stuffed in the top instead of wrapping, and focus on experiences rather than stuff as much as you can for DD

You may have been joking but people often recommend this sort of thing seriously.

47 coming up here because hubby insisted. I've health issues now spinal issues so standing is hell. Last Christmas I put my foot down said I couldn't do it so he compromised. I'd do all the decorating, cleaning, lay up the table for nine. He'd cook the whole meal.

Was so interesting to experience. He's a good cook, but producing the meal meant that he was stuck in the kitchen all morning, barring the odd head around the door he spoke very little to the guests.

This year he's so grateful that DIL is hosting.

I've no guilt I fed his parents, my parents, our siblings, widowed aunts, our children, their wives, our grandchildren.

We're done physically and mentally.

It just highlights how lonely I am tbh but hey ho other people like it

Not with you, I'm afraid.

I think you need to make it how you want it. If you don’t want to do presents / cards tell people and just stop. If you want Christmas Day on your own then great :) I think do what you want and no more.

I have little ones, I only do what I want to do. There’s daft things like Christmas Eve boxes - I don’t do this but we do always put food out for Santa, have new PJs and get a new book to read on Xmas Eve. I’ve always done this - but I won’t conform to the silly boxes!

I think it’s everything else and the pressure - at school there’s endless Christmas events and jumper days etc again I only do the absolute necessary. I can’t cope with it all!

It's a bit like the summer holidays thing tho isn't it.

When we were kids, 6 weeks at summer was great. Now we're adults they should be dropped to 3 because we don't like it / it makes our lives harder.
When we were kids, Christmas was awesome. Now we're adults it should last for 6 hours at most, no build up or prep

This.

Don't get these posts. I love Xmas - because I only do the things I like to do. Sometimes I end up doing things that are important to other people - but generally I love them and part of me being happy is seeing those I love being happy.

No but I have a small family. So I don't have to see aunts uncles etc who I wouldn't usually see all year.

It's on you if you feel pressured and blah blah.
Do as much or as little as you want.

I wish it was easier to avoid Christmas, but it is not. I have no wish to be part of it, but I go along with it (unless I can find a way out) for the sake of other people. The things I find difficult to avoid are;

• Buying expensive gifts for other adults. My husband’s family are hugely into Christmas and they all write lists and spend a lot of money on each other. (Costs everyone hundreds.) I don’t understand why adults need presents, especially when they tell you what to buy for them. It’s ludicrous, and if I opt out it’ll offend them.
• The Christmas emails starting at the end of august. Any company that does this to me will be unsubscribed to, but they still creep into my inbox every august. Same with the general chitchat starting about Christmas every late august/early September. It can be avoided to an extent, but it still adds up to the build-up of it, which is very difficult for me as I have seasonal depression.
• The Christmas music in shops all December, and sometimes November too. On the radio. Every building you walk into - a tree and decorations. Every advert on tv; Christmas. Every storyline, talk show, anything you watch - Christmas special.

For the majority of people in this country it simply isn’t avoidable, and for people with serious bereavements and/or social anxiety and/or seasonal affective disorder, it can be really hard.
I think it’s really nice for children, but it’s gone too far now. Just my opinion. I know many will disagree.