You can ban one thing from Christmas for everyone forever

[iCod]

What is it going to be?
Mine would be the phrase "picky bits"
you're not cute, it's shit.

I’d better knock you off my e-card list then.

Secret Santa.

Cold blue Christmas lights.
Cold white Christmas lights.
Blue Christmas decorations.
Batteries not included.
Novelty gifts with instructions

Blue lights. Not remotely Christmassey.

Wittering on about how many 'sleeps' to go, unless you're 4 years old.

Horrible plastic cheap shit decorations and gimmicky items.

Hideous crap like chocolate willies.

Elf coming in tops. Lame, not funny, social contagion shite.

Tiny selection boxes, from everyone.
Hyperactive understimulated DCs.
Gonks. The live laugh love of Christmas.
The “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” song.
Love Actually.
Unnecessary pressure and stress.
People asking “are you all sorted yet?”
People who think it’s cliched to be cynical at Christmas.

Oh yes , it's actually getting quite hard to find ordinary mice pies . They all have added flavour, while people may want other flavour pies stop calling them mince pies !
I do not want black forest mince pies 😡

Meat.

I would ban miserable people whose only joy is making company miserable.

I don't mean everyone has to be jolly, some years are heavy, some people are suffering grief, sometimes your just not 'feeling it' etc... but those who actively insist on being invited to others Christmas JUST to tear down everyone else joy can feck off.

My step dad was always like that. Sat grumpy, snapped at everyone, ungrateful for presents, wouldn't let anyone have fun, slagged off anything christmasy, turned anything and nothing into an argument (even if you 'breathed too loud' while we sat in silence) and would start taking down decor half way through the day declaring Christmas is over. I just don't get and never will get WHY?

I have had shit years, I remember feeling broken the first year after my pregnancy loss (after 6 years of infertility) knowing I should have been holding my newborn but I still soldiered on. I wasn't a great upbeat source or entertainment, I spent a lot of it alone but I didn't 'ban fun' for others. I still bought gifts, put up decor, was polite when seeing people and got through it for others.

People who say stockings are just for children

’Santa’ and all the extra stuff that has come about in the 10/15 years - elf on a shelf, Christmas Eve boxes, polar breakfasts, reindeer food, footprints on the carpet etc etc.
I am not a grinch - I work with children - they have amazing imaginations they don’t need adults creating it all for them. The ‘magic’ of Christmas is from them not from insta or Pinterest. Every year it just seems to get bigger and bigger and the kids too tired, overwhelmed and overstimulated to properly enjoy anything. I would love things to be a bit simpler.

This is so well articulated! I think that’s what bugs me about the elf so much- it’s created for them rather than by them. The “creativity” is usually that of adults (if not copied from social media). Leave them to their own devices with a few cardboard boxes and you see creativity.

I despise Christmas but I would never show it or bring others down with me. I can always grin and bear it after a few drinks 😉

Aww Batteries Not Included is a great film 🤣🤣🤣

I wouldn't mind puff pastry mince pies if they didn't have the sausage roll effect and make you want to lie under a hoover for the next ten minutes to remove the crumbs.

ha ha so true

Illness.
Everyone would be fit and well on Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day.

totally agree re: elves on shelves and Christmas Eve boxes. I would also ban any Christmas supermarket advert depicting a huge family Christmas with 20 people around a table. When you don’t have much in the way of family and when you’ve lost the people you loved dearly, the constant reinforcement of. Christmas being this gigantic gathering of family is almost painful.

Michael Buble

I meant flashing blue specifically because they remind me of emergency vehicles.

Elf on the shelf.

My ex does it, and I have to endure DD constantly asking me 'ooh, can you guess what our naughty elf did now?' 'you'll never believe where we found naughty elf!'

I hate to say, and it is killjoy, but at this point I would also ban Christmas cards. I hate the guilt of feeling I must send them to the random collection of people who send them to us - which includes people who clearly send out about 300 of the things to their nearest and dearest, as well as people who I would send a card to, absolutley, except I wasn't sure they were going to because neither of us did last year, and ...

Honestly, now, it'd be easier if we all just didn't bother. We're all on social media. It's not like we're going to lose touch.

House over the road from me has these up in their yard and not just blue ones, red and yellow too, all chasiing and flashing like the aura for a giant's migraine.

All the plastic tat that no one needs and has a huge impact on environment

Elf of the shelf - I have little kids but find it absolute social media nonsense (sorry I’m miserable)

Christmas eve boxes - just no. More consumerism.

Christmas cards with To Username, from Usernername absolutely pointless

Secret Santa

Slade: Merry Christmas

Working Xmas eve

I’ve had my Homebase tree for 27 years (cost £7,99) with original decorations. I get a new dec every year preferably wooden. Think that’s quite environmentally friendly